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It has been some time, but Mohamed Salah returned taking on the main part last week with two goals in Casablanca that secured Egypt's spot at the 2026 World Cup. The key player stepping on center stage yet again. Liverpool need him to stay there.

Factors for Variable Performances

There are many factors why variable, unimpressive performances have been the frequent pattern running through the team's start to their league defense, whether they produced seven wins in a row or, before the Red Devils' visit to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three consecutive defeats. The upheaval from multiple new signings, the coach's hunt for his top team, Diogo Jota's tragic death; the winger has endured the impact of them all during his atypically quiet opening to the season.

Sunday's Showpiece Occasion

The weekend's key fixture could provide the impetus for the cause of a record 16 goals in 17 appearances for the club against Manchester United, who are paying their centenary trip to Anfield and have not won at their fierce rivals for almost a decade. The attacker will pose Slot with another unexpected problem, though, if he continue lost in the turmoil indefinitely.

Current Performance

Liverpool's boss must have noticed the contrast of the player's first goal against Djibouti recently. Swept directly with the outside of his left foot inside the front post, Salah's eighth score of Egypt's qualification run was from an very similar spot to his costly miss versus Chelsea before the international break.

Had that attempt been converted moments after the restart at Stamford Bridge we would even now be eulogising the new signing's maiden sublime setup in the league. Analyses into Salah's drop and the team's infrequent defeat streak might also have been postponed. Rather, Wirtz's search continues while the coach stews over a third defeat away, a couple inflicted by dying-minute strikes and one the result of a controversial spot-kick. Small margins, as Slot reiterated on Friday, but they do not mask larger problems.

Previous Campaign's Impact

The forward was crucial in propelling the side towards a record-equalling 20th crown the prior campaign while doubt over his career rumbled in the background. “We brought almost the maximum out of Mo that campaign,” said Slot when his top scorer signed a new two‑year contract in the spring. We have seen a noticeable drop-off on an personal and collective level since. The squad, not the terms of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Decrease

His contribution in terms of scores and assists is reduced 50% on the same point the previous term, from a total eight in the first seven matches of 2024-25 to 4 (a pair of goals and two assists) this season. His number of shots has decreased from twenty-two to 12 while efforts on goal have dropped from 15 to 5, contributing to a steep decline in conversion rate (excluding blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

One attribute that has held more steady is his creativity. With 12 chances created, compared with fourteen at the same stage of the previous season, his numbers are among the top in Europe and up in the ranks of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years respectively.

Collective Display

Metrics of team output will concern the coach further. He had 76 touches in the enemy penalty area in the first seven matches of last season. This season's tally is 39. The numbers are reflective of the team's problems as a whole. Just Manchester United and Arsenal have taken more attempts on goal than them now, but the team's rate of attempts from within the six-yard area is the smallest in the Premier League, their percentage from distance among the top. The club's percentage of accurate shots – 28.4% – is also among the weakest in the league.

During the initial phase of the previous campaign we primarily scored from a moment of magic from one of our front three and in the second half it was mostly from a set piece,” the manager said. “Currently we have not seen as numerous acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the side that from live action produces the highest xG chances.”

Recent Additions

They are not hurting opponents in the manner the coach envisaged when Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were brought on board this summer, while Liverpool are the league's joint third-highest scorers. A tie on the weekend would be sufficient for Slot to attain the century of points in less games than any manager in Liverpool's history (forty-six). Consider what his offense will do when it clicks. The side remain a squad of supreme talent, equipped to igniting and catching any foe for the championship, but cohesion is lacking. That cannot be attributed on the summer recruits only.

Individual and Team Problems

The player is not the sole senior player to experience a dip, with Alexis Mac Allister working his way back to match sharpness and Ibrahima Konaté laboring. But he is at the core of the turmoil that has of late engulfed Liverpool. That applies to a personal level, with Salah's sorrow over the loss of Diogo Jota evident on that poignant first game against the Cherries. The impact of Jota's tragedy can neither be assessed nor ignored.

Strategic Adjustments

In the prior campaign, he