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It has been a while, but Mohamed Salah was back taking on the starring role last week with a double in Casablanca that confirmed the Egyptian team's place at the 2026 World Cup. The star taking the limelight once more. The Reds must have him to remain there.

Causes for Unsteady Showings

There are many factors why unsteady, unimpressive displays have been the recurring theme running through Liverpool's opening to their championship defense, if they produced a winning streak or, prior to Manchester United's trip to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three losses in a row. The upheaval from numerous new signings, the coach's quest for his ideal lineup, Diogo Jota's tragic death; Salah has felt the consequences of them all during his unusually quiet start to the campaign.

The Weekend's Key Fixture

Sunday's big match could offer the impetus for the origin of a impressive 16 goals in 17 games for the club against United, who are paying their 100th visit to Anfield and have not won at their archrivals for over nine years. The attacker will create the manager with a further unexpected problem, though, if he stay caught in the upheaval for an extended period.

Current Display

The team's manager likely seen the irony of Salah's first goal against Djibouti last Wednesday. Swept first time with the outside of his stronger foot into the close post, his eighth strike of the national team's qualifying effort originated from an nearly the same location to his big mistake against Chelsea before the break for internationals.

Had that shot with his right been scored moments after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would still be celebrating the new signing's maiden superb pass in the English top flight. Analyses into his decline and the team's unusual losing streak might also have been avoided. Rather, Wirtz's search persists while Slot fumes over a third consecutive away defeat, a couple inflicted by late goals and another the outcome of a debatable penalty. Narrow differences, as Slot repeated on Friday, but they cannot hide bigger issues.

Last Season's Impact

Salah was instrumental in propelling Liverpool towards a tying 20th crown the prior campaign while uncertainty over his career persisted in the backdrop. We extracted almost the best out of Mo last term,” said Slot when his leading striker signed a fresh deal in the spring. There has been a obvious decrease on an personal and team level from then. The squad, not the details of a deal, are responsible.

Statistical Drop

His contribution in terms of goals and assists is down 50% on the corresponding point the prior campaign, from a combined 8 in the opening seven matches of 2024-25 to four (two goals and two assists) the current campaign. His number of attempts has dropped from twenty-two to twelve while shots on target have dropped from fifteen to five, contributing to a significant drop in shooting accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6%, data show.

One attribute that has held more steady is Salah's creativity. With twelve key passes, against 14 at the equivalent point of last term, his figures remain among the best in Europe and comparable in the group of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by fifteen and 13 years respectively.

Team Output

Measures of team display will trouble the coach more. Salah had 76 touches in the opposition box in the first seven matches of the previous term. This term's total is 39. These figures are symptomatic of the team's difficulties as a whole. Just Manchester United and the Gunners have taken a greater number of shots on goal than them in the current term, but Liverpool's proportion of shots from within the six-yard area is the smallest in the Premier League, their ratio from outside the area among the highest. The club's percentage of shots on target – 28.4% – is also among the lowest in the league.

“In the first half of last season we primarily scored from a special moment from a forward and in the second half it was mostly from a set piece,” Slot said. “Currently we haven’t had as many sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are still the team that from general play generates the most expected goals opportunities.”

Recent Additions

They are not punishing rivals in the manner Slot envisaged when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were signed this summer, although the team stay the league's third-best goalscorers. A tie on the weekend would be enough for him to achieve the 100-point total in less games than any manager in Liverpool's past (46). Imagine what his forward line will do when it clicks. Liverpool are still a squad of supreme individual quality, equipped to starting and chasing any opponent for the championship, but cohesion is absent. This can not be attributed on the new signings only.

Individual and Team Issues

Salah is not the only key player to experience a drop-off, with the midfielder regaining to form and Ibrahima Konaté toiling. But he ends up at the core of the disruption that has lately affected the club. That applies to a individual level, with Salah's sadness over the death of Jota evident on that heartfelt season opener against the Cherries. The influence of Jota's loss can neither be measured nor overlooked.

Tactical Changes

In the prior campaign, he