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It has been a while, but the Egyptian star returned playing the lead part last week with a double in Morocco that confirmed the Egyptian team's place at the global tournament. The key player stepping on center stage another time. The Reds must have him to stay there.

Reasons for Unsteady Displays

There are numerous factors why inconsistent, unimpressive showings have been the recurring theme characterizing the team's beginning to their league defense, whether they recorded seven straight victories or, before Manchester United's trip to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three consecutive defeats. The disruption from multiple new signings, the coach's hunt for his best XI, the late forward's loss; Salah has experienced the consequences of them all during his atypically low-key start to the campaign.

The Weekend's Key Fixture

The weekend's key fixture could provide the catalyst for the origin of a record 16 goals in 17 appearances for the club against Manchester United, who are making their centenary trip to the stadium and have not succeeded at their biggest foes for almost a decade. The attacker will present the manager with an additional unexpected problem, yet, should he stay lost in the upheaval much longer.

Latest Performance

Liverpool's manager likely recognized the irony of the player's first goal against Djibouti last Wednesday. Struck immediately with the outside of his left foot inside the front post, his eighth goal of Egypt's qualifying effort was from an almost identical location to his costly miss versus Chelsea before the international break.

Had that right-foot effort been finished shortly after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would still be celebrating Florian Wirtz's first superb pass in the English top flight. Inquests into his drop and Liverpool's rare losing streak might also have been avoided. Rather, the midfielder's search continues while the coach broods over a third away defeat, two due to late goals and another the result of a disputed penalty. Narrow differences, as he emphasized on recently, but they cannot hide underlying concerns.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

Salah was instrumental in driving the side towards a record-equalling 20th league title the prior campaign while speculation over his long-term plans persisted in the backdrop. We extracted nearly the utmost out of Salah last term,” said the manager when his main attacker signed an extension in April. We have seen a obvious decline on an individual and collective level since. The squad, not the terms of a deal, are accountable.

Performance Drop

The 33-year-old's production in terms of scores and setups is reduced 50% on the same stage the prior campaign, from a combined eight in the initial seven matches of 2024-25 to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. The count of attempts has decreased from 22 to twelve while accurate shots have declined from fifteen to five, contributing to a sharp drop in shooting accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

One attribute that has held more steady is his chance creation. With twelve chances created, versus 14 at the same stage of last term, his stats are among the best in Europe and up in the company of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by 15 and thirteen years respectively.

Collective Performance

Measures of team output will worry Slot more. He had 76 touches in the opposition box in the first seven matches of the prior campaign. This season's total is thirty-nine. The stats are reflective of the squad's problems overall. Just Manchester United and the Gunners have tried a greater number of shots on goal than them in the current term, but Liverpool's rate of shots from within the goal area is the lowest in the division, their ratio from distance among the greatest. The club's proportion of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the poorest in the competition.

During the initial phase of last season we mainly scored from a special moment from one of our front three and in the later stage it was mostly from a free-kick or corner,” Slot said. “Now we have not seen as numerous sparks of quality and we have not found the net from dead balls. But we are nonetheless the side that from live action creates the highest quality opportunities.”

New Signings

They aren't hurting rivals in the fashion Slot planned when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were acquired this summer, though the team remain the league's equal third-top scorers. A tie on Sunday would be sufficient for him to reach the 100-point mark in fewer games than any manager in Liverpool's history (46). Imagine what his forward line will do when it finally gels. The side are still a squad of supreme skill, able to igniting and reeling in any rival for the championship, but cohesion is missing. This cannot be blamed on the recent arrivals alone.

Personal and Collective Challenges

Salah is not the only key member to experience a decline, with the midfielder working his way back to match sharpness and the defender struggling. But he finds himself at the core of the upheaval that has lately enveloped the club. That goes to a individual level, with his grief over the death of Diogo Jota clear on that heartfelt season opener against Bournemouth. The effect of Jota's death can not be measured nor ignored.

Strategic Changes

Last season, he