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It has been a period, but Mohamed Salah was back assuming the starring role recently with two goals in Casablanca that sealed the Egyptian team's position at the global tournament. The main man stepping on the spotlight another time. Liverpool require him to keep that position.

Factors for Unsteady Performances

We see several causes why variable, unconvincing displays have been the common thread defining the team's opening to their league defense, if they recorded seven wins in a row or, prior to the Red Devils' trip to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, a losing run. The turmoil from numerous summer changes, Arne Slot's search for his best XI, Diogo Jota's tragic death; the winger has experienced the consequences of them all during his atypically low-key start to the season.

The Weekend's Showpiece Occasion

Sunday's big match could offer the spark for the cause of a record 16 strikes in 17 outings for Liverpool against Manchester United, who are making their centenary trip to the stadium and have not won at their fierce rivals for more than nine years. The attacker will pose the manager with a further surprise issue, though, if he remain lost in the turmoil for an extended period.

Latest Performance

Liverpool's boss must have recognized the contrast of Salah's opening strike against the opponent recently. Swept immediately with the exterior of his left foot into the near post, Salah's eighth score of the national team's qualifying effort was from an nearly the same position to his big mistake versus Chelsea before the national team pause.

If that right-foot effort been scored shortly after the restart at Stamford Bridge we would still be eulogising the new signing's first sublime pass in the English top flight. Discussions into Salah's drop and Liverpool's infrequent losing streak might as well have been avoided. Rather, the midfielder's search goes on while Slot stews over a third consecutive away defeat, a couple caused by last-minute winners and another the result of a controversial spot-kick. Small margins, as Slot repeated on Friday, but they cannot hide larger problems.

Previous Campaign's Influence

Salah was instrumental in propelling Liverpool towards a record-equalling 20th crown last season while uncertainty over his future persisted in the background. “We brought almost the best out of Salah this season,” said the manager when his main attacker signed an extension in April. We have seen a obvious decrease on an individual and collective level since. The lineup, not the details of a deal, are responsible.

Statistical Decrease

The 33-year-old's contribution in terms of scores and setups is reduced 50% on the same point last season, from a combined 8 in the initial seven matches of 2024-25 to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this term. The count of attempts has fallen from 22 to 12 while efforts on goal have dropped from 15 to 5, causing a steep fall in shooting accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6%, data show.

One attribute that has remained consistent is Salah's creativity. With twelve key passes, compared with 14 at the equivalent point of last campaign, his stats remain among the best in Europe and comparable in the group of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and 13 years respectively.

Collective Performance

Indicators of team performance will concern Slot additionally. Salah had seventy-six touches in the enemy penalty area in the initial seven matches of last season. The current campaign's count is thirty-nine. The numbers are symptomatic of the squad's problems as a whole. Just Manchester United and Arsenal have tried a greater number of attempts on goal than Liverpool in the current term, but the team's rate of attempts from inside the six-yard box is the poorest in the Premier League, their ratio from distance among the greatest. The club's proportion of accurate shots – 28.4% – is also among the lowest in the competition.

During the initial phase of last season we mostly scored from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the second half it was mostly from a dead ball,” the manager said. “Currently we have not seen as numerous moments of genius and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are still the team that from general play produces the most quality opportunities.”

New Signings

They are not beating rivals in the fashion the coach planned when Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were signed recently, while Liverpool remain the league's third-best scorers. A draw on the weekend would be enough for Slot to achieve the century of points in fewer games than any coach in the club's history (46). Think what his forward line will do when it finally gels. The side remain a team of supreme individual quality, equipped to sparking and reeling in any foe for the championship, but unity is absent. This can not be pinned on the recent arrivals only.

Personal and Team Problems

The player is not the sole key member to experience a drop-off, with Alexis Mac Allister regaining to form and Ibrahima Konaté toiling. But he is at the core of the turmoil that has of late enveloped the club. This applies to a personal level, with Salah's sorrow over the loss of Diogo Jota clear on that poignant opening night against Bournemouth. The influence of Jota's death can neither be quantified nor overlooked.

Tactical Adjustments

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