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It has been a while, but Mohamed Salah returned taking on the lead part in recent days with two goals in Casablanca that sealed the Egyptian team's place at the upcoming World Cup. The star stepping on the spotlight once more. The Reds need him to stay there.

Causes for Unsteady Performances

There are many reasons why inconsistent, unconvincing displays have been the common thread characterizing the team's beginning to their league defense, if they achieved seven straight victories or, prior to Manchester United's arrival to Liverpool's home ground on the weekend, a losing run. The disruption from multiple summer changes, Arne Slot's search for his best XI, Diogo Jota's loss; the winger has endured the consequences of them all during his uncharacteristically low-key beginning to the term.

Sunday's Showpiece Occasion

The weekend's key fixture could deliver the impetus for the origin of a record 16 goals in 17 games for the club against Manchester United, who are making their centenary trip to Anfield and have not succeeded at their archrivals for more than nine years. The attacker will present the manager with another surprise issue, though, if he stay lost in the turmoil indefinitely.

Latest Form

The team's head coach must have seen the irony of Salah's first goal against the opponent last Wednesday. Swept immediately with the exterior of his left foot inside the close post, his eighth score of Egypt's World Cup qualifying campaign originated from an almost identical position to his costly miss in the Chelsea match before the international break.

Had that right-foot effort been finished shortly after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would still be celebrating the new signing's maiden sublime assist in the league. Inquests into his decline and the team's unusual losing run might as well have been postponed. Instead, the midfielder's search goes on while the coach broods over a third away defeat, two due to last-minute winners and one the result of a controversial spot-kick. Narrow differences, as he repeated on recently, but they cannot hide underlying concerns.

Last Season's Impact

Salah was key in driving the side towards a tying 20th crown the previous term while doubt over his future persisted in the backdrop. “We brought nearly the maximum out of Mo this season,” said Slot when his top scorer signed a fresh deal in the spring. There has been a clear decline on an personal and collective level since. The squad, not the terms of a deal, are accountable.

Performance Decrease

The 33-year-old's production in terms of scores and setups is lower half on the same stage last season, from a total eight in the opening seven fixtures of 2024-25 to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this term. His tally of attempts has fallen from twenty-two to 12 while efforts on goal have declined from fifteen to 5, leading to a significant fall in shooting accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, data show.

One attribute that has stayed stable is Salah's chance creation. With 12 opportunities made, against 14 at the comparable period of last campaign, his stats are among the finest in the continent and comparable in the company of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and 13 years respectively.

Collective Output

Metrics of collective output will concern Slot further. Salah had seventy-six touches in the opposition penalty area in the initial seven league games of the previous term. This term's count is thirty-nine. The stats are indicative of the team's problems as a whole. Just United and Arsenal have attempted more attempts on goal than Liverpool this season, but Liverpool's percentage of attempts from inside the goal area is the poorest in the top flight, their share from long range among the top. The club's percentage of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the poorest in the league.

“In the first half of last season we primarily found the net from an individual brilliance from one of our front three and in the second half it was more from a set piece,” Slot said. “Currently we have not seen as numerous sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are still the team that from general play generates the most quality opportunities.”

New Signings

They are not beating rivals in the manner Slot envisaged when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were brought on board recently, though Liverpool remain the division's joint third-highest scorers. A tie on the weekend would be sufficient for Slot to achieve the 100-point total in less games than any boss in the club's past (forty-six). Consider what his attack will do when it does settle. The side are still a squad of exceptional talent, capable of igniting and reeling in any rival for the championship, but unity is absent. That can not be pinned on the recent arrivals alone.

Individual and Collective Problems

The player is not the sole senior player to experience a dip, with the midfielder returning to form and the defender toiling. But he is at the core of the upheaval that has recently engulfed the club. That goes to a personal level, with his sadness over the passing of Jota clear on that poignant opening night against the Cherries. The impact of his tragedy can neither be assessed nor dismissed.

Strategic Shifts

Previously, he