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It's been a while, but Mohamed Salah reappeared taking on the main part in recent days with a double in Casablanca that sealed the Egyptian team's spot at the 2026 World Cup. The main man stepping on the limelight another time. The Reds need him to keep that position.

Reasons for Unsteady Showings

We see many factors why inconsistent, unconvincing showings have been the common thread characterizing the team's opening to their championship defense, whether they recorded seven wins in a row or, prior to the Red Devils' trip to Anfield on the weekend, a losing run. The upheaval from so many offseason moves, the coach's hunt for his top team, Diogo Jota's loss; Salah has endured the effect of them all during his unusually quiet opening to the season.

The Weekend's Showpiece Occasion

The weekend's key fixture could deliver the impetus for the source of a record 16 scores in 17 appearances for the club against United, who are paying their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not triumphed at their archrivals for over nine years. Salah will present the manager with another surprise issue, though, if he stay caught in the disruption indefinitely.

Current Form

Liverpool's manager must have seen the irony of the player's initial score against the opponent last Wednesday. Drilled first time with the outside of his stronger foot inside the close post, his eighth goal of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign originated from an very similar position to his costly miss against Chelsea before the break for internationals.

If that attempt been converted moments after the resumption at Chelsea's ground we would still be celebrating Florian Wirtz's first superb assist in the English top flight. Analyses into Salah's decline and the team's unusual defeat streak might also have been avoided. Rather, Wirtz's search goes on while Slot broods over a third loss on the road, two caused by late goals and another the result of a disputed penalty. Fine lines, as he reiterated on recently, but they do not camouflage underlying concerns.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

The forward was key in driving the side towards a tying 20th championship the prior campaign while speculation over his career persisted in the background. “We brought nearly the maximum out of Salah last term,” said Slot when his leading striker signed a new two‑year contract in April. We have seen a clear decrease on an individual and collective level from then. The squad, not the terms of a deal, are responsible.

Statistical Decline

The 33-year-old's output in terms of goals and assists is lower 50% on the corresponding point the previous term, from a combined 8 in the first seven league games of 2024-25 to 4 (two goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. The count of shots has fallen from 22 to 12 while accurate shots have fallen from fifteen to five, leading to a sharp fall in conversion rate (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, figures show.

A single trait that has remained consistent is his creativity. With 12 key passes, against fourteen at the equivalent point of last term, his figures are among the top in the continent and comparable in the company of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years each.

Collective Performance

Metrics of team output will concern the coach further. Salah had seventy-six contacts in the opposition box in the opening seven league games of the previous term. The current campaign's tally is thirty-nine. These figures are reflective of the squad's difficulties in general. Just Manchester United and Arsenal have attempted a greater number of shots on goal than them in the current term, but the team's proportion of attempts from within the six-yard box is the lowest in the Premier League, their share from long range among the greatest. The club's rate of accurate shots – 28.4% – is also among the lowest in the competition.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we primarily found the net from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the later stage it was more from a set piece,” Slot said. “This season we haven’t had as many sparks of quality and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are still the side that from general play generates the most expected goals opportunities.”

New Signings

They aren't punishing opponents in the way the coach planned when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were acquired recently, while Liverpool stay the division's joint third-highest scorers. A draw on Sunday would be enough for him to attain the 100-point total in fewer games than any manager in the club's past (forty-six). Consider what his forward line will do when it does settle. The side are still a team of supreme individual quality, equipped to igniting and chasing any opponent for the championship, but unity is missing. That can not be blamed on the summer recruits alone.

Individual and Collective Issues

Salah is not the only established member to experience a dip, with Alexis Mac Allister working his way back to match sharpness and Ibrahima Konaté toiling. But he finds himself at the heart of the disruption that has of late engulfed Liverpool. That applies to a individual level, with his grief over the death of Diogo Jota clear on that heartfelt opening night against Bournemouth. The influence of his death can neither be measured nor ignored.

Tactical Shifts

In the prior campaign, he