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It's been some time, but Liverpool's forward reappeared assuming the main part in recent days with a brace in Casablanca that confirmed Egypt's place at the 2026 World Cup. The main man taking center stage once more. Liverpool need him to remain there.

Factors for Variable Displays

There are several causes why variable, lackluster performances have been the common thread running through the team's beginning to their title defence, whether they achieved seven straight victories or, before the Red Devils' arrival to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three losses in a row. The disruption from multiple offseason moves, the coach's hunt for his ideal lineup, Diogo Jota's loss; Salah has felt the effect of them all during his atypically subdued beginning to the season.

Sunday's Big Match

The weekend's big match could deliver the spark for the source of a impressive 16 scores in 17 games for the club against Manchester United, who are making their 100th visit to the stadium and have not won at their fierce rivals for more than nine years. The attacker will present the manager with another unforeseen dilemma, though, if he remain lost in the disruption much longer.

Latest Display

Liverpool's head coach must have noticed the paradox of Salah's opening strike against Djibouti last Wednesday. Struck immediately with the exterior of his stronger foot into the near post, his eighth score of Egypt's qualification run originated from an very similar position to his expensive error against Chelsea before the national team pause.

Had that shot with his right been scored shortly after the restart at Stamford Bridge we would still be celebrating the new signing's first excellent setup in the English top flight. Discussions into his dip and Liverpool's rare losing run might as well have been postponed. Rather, Wirtz's search goes on while Slot broods over a third consecutive loss on the road, a couple due to dying-minute strikes and another the result of a debatable penalty. Small margins, as Slot reiterated on recently, but they do not mask larger problems.

Previous Campaign's Influence

The forward was instrumental in propelling the side towards a tying 20th championship the previous term while doubt over his long-term plans persisted in the backdrop. We extracted nearly the utmost out of Salah this season,” said the manager when his main attacker signed an extension in April. There has been a clear decline on an individual and team level from then. The team, not the terms of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Decline

The 33-year-old's output in terms of goals and assists is down half on the same point the prior campaign, from a combined 8 in the first seven matches of 2024-25 to four (two goals and two assists) this term. His tally of shots has dropped from twenty-two to twelve while accurate shots have fallen from fifteen to 5, contributing to a significant fall in shot accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

A particular skill that has held more steady is his playmaking. With twelve opportunities made, versus fourteen at the same stage of last campaign, his stats stay among the finest in Europe and comparable in the ranks of young talents and Arda Güler, his juniors by 15 and 13 years each.

Team Output

Metrics of collective output will worry Slot additionally. He had seventy-six touches in the enemy penalty area in the first seven matches of the prior campaign. The current campaign's total is 39. The stats are indicative of the squad's issues overall. Just Manchester United and the Gunners have taken more attempts on goal than Liverpool this season, but the team's rate of attempts from inside the six-yard area is the lowest in the division, their ratio from long range among the greatest. Liverpool's proportion of efforts on goal – 28.4 percent – is also among the poorest in the competition.

“In the first half of last season we mostly scored from an individual brilliance from an attacker and in the second half it was mostly from a dead ball,” Slot said. “Currently we lack as many acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the side that from general play generates the most quality opportunities.”

Summer Arrivals

They are not beating rivals in the manner Slot planned when Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were signed in the offseason, though the team are the division's equal third-top goalscorers. A tie on Sunday would be sufficient for Slot to attain the century of points in less games than any coach in Liverpool's past (forty-six). Think what his forward line will do when it finally gels. Liverpool remain a squad of outstanding individual quality, able to sparking and reeling in any opponent for the championship, but unity is absent. This can not be blamed on the new signings by themselves.

Personal and Collective Challenges

The player is not the sole key player to experience a dip, with the midfielder working his way back to fitness and the defender struggling. But he is at the core of the turmoil that has lately enveloped the club. This goes to a personal level, with Salah's grief over the death of Diogo Jota evident on that emotional first game against the Cherries. The effect of his death can neither be measured nor dismissed.

Strategic Shifts

Previously, he