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It's been a period, but Liverpool's forward reappeared taking on the lead part last week with a double in Morocco that secured Egypt's place at the 2026 World Cup. The star taking the limelight once more. Liverpool need him to keep that position.

Causes for Unsteady Displays

We see many factors why inconsistent, unimpressive displays have been the recurring theme running through Liverpool's beginning to their championship defense, whether they recorded a winning streak or, prior to Manchester United's arrival to Anfield on Sunday, a losing run. The turmoil from multiple summer changes, the coach's search for his best XI, Diogo Jota's loss; Salah has felt the consequences of them all during his atypically low-key start to the term.

The Weekend's Big Match

Sunday's big match could deliver the impetus for the cause of a record 16 goals in 17 appearances for the club against Manchester United, who are making their centenary trip to Anfield and have not succeeded at their biggest foes for almost a decade. The attacker will present the manager with an additional surprise issue, however, should he remain caught in the turmoil for an extended period.

Latest Performance

The team's manager must have seen the irony of Salah's first goal against the opponent last Wednesday. Drilled directly with the exterior of his stronger foot inside the front post, his eighth strike of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign came from an almost identical position to his big mistake versus Chelsea before the break for internationals.

If that shot with his right been scored shortly after the restart at Stamford Bridge we would still be praising the new signing's first superb pass in the Premier League. Analyses into Salah's drop and Liverpool's rare losing streak might as well have been avoided. Rather, Wirtz's search goes on while the coach fumes over a third loss on the road, a couple inflicted by late goals and one the outcome of a disputed penalty. Small margins, as he emphasized on Friday, but they cannot hide underlying concerns.

Last Season's Influence

Salah was instrumental in propelling the side towards a tying 20th league title the prior campaign while doubt over his future persisted in the backdrop. We extracted nearly the maximum out of Salah last term,” said Slot when his main attacker signed a fresh deal in April. We have seen a clear drop-off on an individual and team level from then. The squad, not the terms of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Decrease

The 33-year-old's contribution in terms of scores and assists is down half on the same stage the previous term, from a combined 8 in the initial seven league games of 2024-25 to 4 (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. His number of attempts has decreased from 22 to 12 while shots on target have fallen from fifteen to 5, causing a sharp decline in conversion rate (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, data show.

A single trait that has remained consistent is his chance creation. With 12 opportunities made, against fourteen at the comparable period of the previous season, his stats are among the best in the continent and up in the ranks of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his juniors by 15 and 13 years each.

Collective Output

Measures of team display will trouble Slot further. He had 76 touches in the enemy box in the opening seven fixtures of the prior campaign. The current campaign's total is 39. The stats are reflective of the team's difficulties as a whole. Just United and the Gunners have attempted more shots on goal than them now, but the team's percentage of shots from within the goal area is the lowest in the Premier League, their percentage from distance among the greatest. Liverpool's rate of efforts on goal – 28.4 percent – is also among the lowest in the competition.

During the initial phase of last season we mostly scored from an individual brilliance from one of our front three and in the second half it was more from a dead ball,” Slot said. “Currently we haven’t had as numerous moments of genius and we have not found the net from dead balls. But we are still the side that from general play produces the highest xG chances.”

Recent Additions

They are not beating foes in the manner Slot planned when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were signed recently, while the team stay the division's equal third-top goalscorers. A tie on the weekend would be enough for Slot to achieve the 100-point mark in less games than any boss in the club's past (46). Consider what his attack will do when it does settle. The side remain a team of exceptional talent, capable of sparking and chasing any opponent for the championship, but cohesion is lacking. This cannot be attributed on the summer recruits alone.

Individual and Collective Problems

The player is not the sole key member to suffer a dip, with the midfielder returning to match sharpness and Ibrahima Konaté struggling. But he ends up at the core of the disruption that has of late engulfed Liverpool. That applies to a individual level, with Salah's sadness over the death of Diogo Jota evident on that poignant first game against the Cherries. The impact of his death can not be quantified nor overlooked.

Strategic Shifts

In the prior campaign, he