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It has been a period, but Mohamed Salah reappeared playing the starring role in recent days with two goals in Casablanca that secured the Egyptian team's place at the upcoming World Cup. The key player claiming center stage once more. Liverpool require him to stay there.

Causes for Inconsistent Performances

We see many reasons why inconsistent, unconvincing displays have been the recurring theme defining the team's opening to their championship defense, if they recorded seven straight victories or, before Manchester United's arrival to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, a losing run. The disruption from numerous offseason moves, the coach's quest for his top team, Diogo Jota's loss; the winger has endured the impact of them all during his atypically quiet beginning to the campaign.

Sunday's Key Fixture

The weekend's big match could provide the catalyst for the origin of a record 16 strikes in 17 outings for Liverpool against United, who are paying their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not won at their fierce rivals for almost a decade. Salah will pose the manager with another unforeseen dilemma, however, if he continue caught in the upheaval indefinitely.

Current Performance

Liverpool's manager must have seen the paradox of the player's first goal against Djibouti in midweek. Drilled first time with the outside of his stronger foot inside the close post, Salah's eighth goal of Egypt's qualification run came from an almost identical location to his big mistake in the Chelsea match prior to the national team pause.

If that shot with his right been finished shortly after the restart at Stamford Bridge we would still be praising Florian Wirtz's maiden sublime pass in the league. Analyses into his dip and the team's rare losing run might also have been delayed. Instead, Wirtz's search continues while the coach stews over a third defeat away, two caused by late goals and another the result of a disputed penalty. Small margins, as he emphasized on recently, but they cannot hide bigger issues.

Last Season's Impact

Salah was key in driving Liverpool towards a record-equalling 20th crown last season while doubt over his career lingered in the background. “We brought almost the maximum out of Mo this season,” said the manager when his top scorer signed a new two‑year contract in the spring. We have seen a noticeable decrease on an individual and collective level since. The squad, not the details of a deal, are accountable.

Statistical Drop

His contribution in terms of scores and setups is down 50% on the corresponding point the previous term, from a total eight in the initial seven league games of 2024-25 to 4 (two goals and two assists) the current campaign. His number of attempts has decreased from twenty-two to 12 while efforts on goal have declined from 15 to 5, leading to a sharp drop in shooting accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, figures show.

A single trait that has stayed stable is his chance creation. With 12 key passes, against fourteen at the equivalent point of last campaign, his numbers are among the top in Europe and comparable in the company of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by fifteen and thirteen years respectively.

Team Output

Metrics of collective performance will trouble the coach additionally. He had 76 contacts in the enemy box in the first seven matches of the prior campaign. This term's count is thirty-nine. The numbers are symptomatic of the team's difficulties as a whole. Only United and the Gunners have attempted more attempts on goal than them in the current term, but Liverpool's rate of shots from within the six-yard box is the smallest in the Premier League, their ratio from outside the area among the top. The club's percentage of efforts on goal – 28.4 percent – is also among the lowest in the competition.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we primarily scored from a special moment from one of our front three and in the second half it was mostly from a free-kick or corner,” Slot said. “Currently we haven’t had as numerous acts of brilliance and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are still the side that from live action generates the most xG chances.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't hurting rivals in the fashion the coach imagined when Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were acquired recently, while the team are the league's third-best goalscorers. A draw on the weekend would be sufficient for Slot to achieve the century of points in fewer games than any manager in the club's past (46). Consider what his attack will do when it clicks. Liverpool are still a team of supreme talent, capable of sparking and catching any opponent for the title, but unity is missing. That can not be pinned on the new signings by themselves.

Individual and Collective Issues

The player is not the only established player to experience a drop-off, with Alexis Mac Allister working his way back to match sharpness and the defender toiling. But he is at the heart of the turmoil that has of late affected the club. This applies to a individual level, with Salah's sadness over the loss of Jota obvious on that emotional first game against Bournemouth. The influence of Jota's tragedy can not be assessed nor ignored.

Strategic Changes

Last season, he