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It's been a period, but Mohamed Salah returned playing the lead part in recent days with a brace in Casablanca that secured the Egyptian team's position at the upcoming World Cup. The key player stepping on the spotlight another time. Liverpool need him to keep that position.

Causes for Unsteady Displays

There are many causes why unsteady, unconvincing showings have been the common thread running through the team's beginning to their title defence, if they produced seven straight victories or, before the Red Devils' trip to Anfield on Sunday, three consecutive defeats. The turmoil from multiple offseason moves, the coach's quest for his top team, the late forward's tragic death; the winger has felt the consequences of them all during his uncharacteristically subdued start to the season.

Sunday's Big Match

The weekend's big match could provide the impetus for the source of a record 16 strikes in 17 outings for the club against United, who are paying their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not won at their archrivals for almost a decade. The attacker will pose Slot with an additional surprise issue, though, should he remain lost in the disruption indefinitely.

Recent Display

The team's head coach likely seen the paradox of the player's first goal against the opponent in midweek. Swept first time with the exterior of his left foot inside the front post, Salah's eighth strike of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign originated from an almost identical location to his expensive error against Chelsea before the international break.

If that right-foot effort been scored shortly after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would still be eulogising the new signing's maiden sublime assist in the English top flight. Analyses into Salah's decline and the team's rare defeat streak might also have been delayed. Instead, the midfielder's wait goes on while Slot stews over a third defeat away, two due to last-minute winners and another the outcome of a controversial spot-kick. Fine lines, as Slot repeated on Friday, but they do not camouflage larger problems.

Previous Campaign's Impact

Salah was instrumental in pushing the side towards a historic 20th league title the previous term while speculation over his career persisted in the backdrop. We achieved almost the best out of Salah this season,” said the manager when his top scorer signed an extension in the spring. We have seen a clear decline on an individual and team level from then. The team, not the details of a deal, are responsible.

Performance Decline

His contribution in terms of goals and setups is down 50% on the same stage the prior campaign, from a combined 8 in the opening seven matches of 2024-25 to 4 (two goals and two assists) this season. His number of attempts has decreased from twenty-two to twelve while efforts on goal have dropped from 15 to five, causing a steep fall in shot accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, figures show.

One attribute that has held more steady is his chance creation. With twelve key passes, versus fourteen at the comparable period of last campaign, his stats are among the top in Europe and up in the company of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by 15 and 13 years respectively.

Team Display

Measures of team display will concern Slot additionally. Salah had seventy-six touches in the enemy penalty area in the opening seven matches of last season. This term's tally is 39. These figures are indicative of the squad's difficulties overall. Just Manchester United and the Gunners have tried more attempts on goal than them now, but the team's rate of attempts from within the goal area is the lowest in the division, their share from outside the area among the highest. Liverpool's proportion of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is also among the poorest in the competition.

During the initial phase of the previous campaign we mostly found the net from a special moment from one of our front three and in the second half it was mostly from a dead ball,” Slot said. “Currently we lack as many acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are still the team that from live action creates the most xG chances.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't beating opponents in the way the coach planned when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were signed in the offseason, while Liverpool remain the division's equal third-top scorers. A tie on Sunday would be enough for him to reach the 100-point total in less games than any coach in the club's past (46). Consider what his attack will do when it finally gels. Liverpool are still a team of outstanding individual quality, equipped to starting and chasing any rival for the championship, but synergy is lacking. This cannot be attributed on the summer recruits by themselves.

Individual and Team Challenges

Salah is not the sole key member to experience a decline, with the midfielder working his way back to fitness and the defender laboring. But he ends up at the heart of the upheaval that has lately affected Liverpool. This applies to a individual level, with Salah's grief over the death of Jota obvious on that emotional season opener against Bournemouth. The influence of Jota's loss can neither be assessed nor dismissed.

Strategic Changes

Last season, he