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It has been a while, but Mohamed Salah returned playing the main part last week with two goals in Casablanca that confirmed Egypt's place at the upcoming World Cup. The main man taking the limelight another time. The Reds must have him to remain there.

Reasons for Inconsistent Displays

We see numerous reasons why unsteady, unimpressive displays have been the common thread characterizing the team's beginning to their league defense, if they recorded seven straight victories or, prior to Manchester United's arrival to Liverpool's home ground on the weekend, three losses in a row. The upheaval from numerous new signings, the coach's hunt for his top team, the late forward's loss; Salah has endured the effect of them all during his unusually quiet start to the season.

The Weekend's Showpiece Occasion

Sunday's showpiece occasion could deliver the catalyst for the cause of a impressive 16 goals in 17 outings for the club against United, who are paying their centenary trip to Anfield and have not succeeded at their archrivals for almost a decade. The attacker will present Slot with an additional surprise issue, however, if he remain lost in the upheaval for an extended period.

Current Display

The team's head coach likely noticed the paradox of Salah's first goal against Djibouti last Wednesday. Drilled directly with the exterior of his stronger foot inside the near post, Salah's eighth goal of the national team's qualifying effort came from an almost identical spot to his big mistake versus Chelsea before the international break.

Had that shot with his right been converted moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be celebrating Florian Wirtz's maiden excellent assist in the league. Inquests into Salah's drop and Liverpool's unusual defeat streak might also have been avoided. Instead, Wirtz's search goes on while Slot fumes over a third defeat away, two inflicted by late goals and another the result of a disputed penalty. Small margins, as he repeated on recently, but they do not camouflage underlying concerns.

Last Season's Influence

Salah was crucial in driving Liverpool towards a tying 20th league title the previous term while speculation over his career persisted in the background. “We brought nearly the best out of Salah this season,” said Slot when his top scorer signed a new two‑year contract in the spring. There has been a clear decrease on an individual and team level since. The lineup, not the terms of a contract, are to blame.

Performance Drop

The 33-year-old's output in terms of goals and assists is reduced half on the corresponding point the previous term, from a combined 8 in the opening seven matches of 2024-25 to four (two goals and two assists) the current campaign. The count of attempts has dropped from twenty-two to twelve while shots on target have fallen from fifteen to 5, contributing to a significant decline in conversion rate (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, figures show.

One attribute that has remained consistent is his chance creation. With 12 opportunities made, compared with fourteen at the equivalent point of last campaign, his numbers are among the best in the continent and up in the group of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years respectively.

Collective Output

Measures of team performance will worry Slot additionally. Salah had 76 touches in the enemy box in the initial seven league games of the prior campaign. The current campaign's tally is 39. These figures are indicative of the team's problems in general. Only Manchester United and the Gunners have taken more attempts on goal than them in the current term, but Liverpool's proportion of shots from inside the goal area is the lowest in the division, their percentage from distance among the highest. Liverpool's percentage of accurate shots – 28.4 percent – is as well among the poorest in the competition.

“In the first half of last season we mostly found the net from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the later stage it was mostly from a dead ball,” Slot said. “This season we lack as numerous moments of genius and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are still the team that from live action creates the most xG chances.”

Recent Additions

They aren't beating foes in the way Slot envisaged when Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were brought on board in the offseason, though the team remain the league's equal third-top scorers. A tie on the weekend would be enough for Slot to reach the century of points in fewer games than any manager in Liverpool's history (forty-six). Imagine what his forward line will do when it does settle. The side remain a team of supreme individual quality, capable of sparking and catching any rival for the championship, but unity is absent. This can not be pinned on the recent arrivals only.

Personal and Collective Challenges

Salah is not the only key player to experience a decline, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to match sharpness and the defender toiling. But he finds himself at the core of the disruption that has lately engulfed the club. That applies to a individual level, with Salah's grief over the death of Diogo Jota clear on that emotional season opener against Bournemouth. The effect of his loss can neither be quantified nor ignored.

Tactical Changes

Last season, he