🔗 Share this article

It has been a while, but Mohamed Salah was back assuming the starring role in recent days with a double in Morocco that secured the Egyptian team's position at the upcoming World Cup. The key player claiming the spotlight yet again. The Reds need him to remain there.

Reasons for Inconsistent Showings

There are many causes why unsteady, unimpressive displays have been the frequent pattern defining Liverpool's start to their title defence, if they produced a winning streak or, prior to the Red Devils' visit to Liverpool's home ground on the weekend, a losing run. The upheaval from so many new signings, the coach's hunt for his top team, Diogo Jota's passing; the winger has experienced the impact of them all during his uncharacteristically quiet beginning to the season.

Sunday's Big Match

Sunday's key fixture could offer the impetus for the source of a impressive 16 strikes in 17 outings for the club against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not succeeded at their fierce rivals for more than nine years. Salah will pose Slot with another unforeseen dilemma, though, if he continue lost in the disruption indefinitely.

Latest Performance

The team's manager must have seen the paradox of the player's initial score against Djibouti recently. Swept directly with the exterior of his stronger foot inside the close post, his eighth goal of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign came from an nearly the same location to his big mistake versus Chelsea before the national team pause.

If that attempt been converted shortly after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be celebrating the new signing's maiden excellent pass in the Premier League. Inquests into Salah's decline and Liverpool's rare losing streak might also have been delayed. Instead, Wirtz's search continues while the coach broods over a third loss on the road, two inflicted by late goals and one the outcome of a controversial spot-kick. Narrow differences, as Slot repeated on recently, but they do not mask larger problems.

Last Season's Influence

Salah was key in propelling Liverpool towards a historic 20th crown the previous term while uncertainty over his future lingered in the backdrop. “We brought almost the utmost out of Mo that campaign,” said Slot when his top scorer signed a new two‑year contract in April. There has been a noticeable drop-off on an personal and team level from then. The squad, not the details of a deal, are to blame.

Performance Decrease

His output in terms of scores and assists is down half on the corresponding point the prior campaign, from a combined 8 in the opening 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 dropped from 15 to 5, leading to a steep decline in shooting accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6%, data show.

A particular skill that has held more steady is his chance creation. With twelve chances created, compared with 14 at the comparable period of the previous season, his numbers remain among the top in the continent and up in the company of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and 13 years respectively.

Team Performance

Indicators of team output will worry Slot more. Salah had 76 touches in the opposition box in the first seven matches of last season. This term's total is 39. These figures are reflective of the team's difficulties in general. Just Manchester United and the Gunners have taken more shots on goal than Liverpool in the current term, but the team's proportion of shots from within the goal area is the poorest in the top flight, their share from long range among the top. The club's rate of accurate shots – 28.4 percent – is also among the lowest in the competition.

During the initial phase of last season we primarily scored from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the second half it was more from a set piece,” the manager said. “This season we haven’t had as many moments of genius and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are still the team that from general play generates the highest xG chances.”

Summer Arrivals

They are not hurting rivals in the manner the coach planned when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were brought on board this summer, while Liverpool remain the league's joint third-highest goalscorers. A draw on the weekend would be sufficient for him to reach the 100-point mark in less games than any manager in the club's past (46). Think what his attack will do when it finally gels. Liverpool are still a team of outstanding individual quality, able to sparking and catching any rival for the championship, but synergy is missing. That can not be attributed on the summer recruits only.

Individual and Collective Issues

The player is not the sole key member to experience a dip, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to fitness and Ibrahima Konaté struggling. But he is at the core of the disruption that has recently affected Liverpool. This goes to a individual level, with his grief over the passing of Jota clear on that emotional opening night against Bournemouth. The impact of Jota's loss can neither be measured nor ignored.

Tactical Changes

Last season, he