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It has been a while, but Liverpool's forward was back taking on the main part last week with a brace in Casablanca that secured the Egyptian team's place at the global tournament. The main man taking the spotlight once more. The Merseyside club must have him to keep that position.

Causes for Unsteady Displays

There are numerous factors why variable, unconvincing displays have been the common thread running through Liverpool's start to their league defense, if they achieved seven wins in a row or, before Manchester United's trip to Anfield on the weekend, three losses in a row. The disruption from so many summer changes, Arne Slot's search for his best XI, Diogo Jota's loss; Salah has felt the consequences of them all during his uncharacteristically subdued opening to the term.

Sunday's Key Fixture

Sunday's showpiece occasion could deliver the catalyst for the cause of a record 16 scores in 17 appearances for Liverpool against United, who are paying their 100th appearance to the stadium and have not won at their archrivals for almost a decade. Salah will present the manager with a further unforeseen dilemma, however, if he continue caught in the turmoil indefinitely.

Recent Performance

Liverpool's boss must have noticed the paradox of the player's opening strike against Djibouti last Wednesday. Drilled first time with the exterior of his left foot into the near post, his eighth goal of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign came from an nearly the same spot to his big mistake against Chelsea before the national team pause.

If that attempt been finished shortly after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be eulogising the new signing's first excellent setup in the Premier League. Discussions into Salah's decline and Liverpool's rare losing run might also have been postponed. Instead, the midfielder's search persists while Slot broods over a third defeat away, two due to late goals and another the outcome of a controversial spot-kick. Small margins, as he reiterated on recently, but they do not mask underlying concerns.

Last Season's Influence

The forward was crucial in pushing Liverpool towards a tying 20th championship last season while uncertainty over his career lingered in the background. We extracted nearly the maximum out of Salah this season,” said Slot when his top scorer signed an extension in the spring. We have seen a obvious drop-off on an individual and collective level from then. The squad, not the terms of a deal, are responsible.

Statistical Drop

His contribution in terms of goals and assists is reduced half on the same stage the previous term, from a total 8 in the first seven fixtures of 2024-25 to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this term. His number of attempts has fallen from 22 to twelve while shots on target have dropped from fifteen to 5, leading to a sharp drop in shooting accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, data show.

One attribute that has stayed stable is his creativity. With 12 opportunities made, versus 14 at the same stage of the previous season, his stats are among the best in Europe and up in the group of Lamine Yamal and rising stars, his younger counterparts by fifteen and thirteen years respectively.

Team Performance

Metrics of team performance will worry the coach further. Salah had 76 contacts in the enemy box in the first seven league games of the prior campaign. This term's count is thirty-nine. The numbers are indicative of the team's problems as a whole. Only United and Arsenal have attempted more attempts on goal than Liverpool this season, but the team's proportion of shots from within the six-yard area is the poorest in the top flight, their percentage from distance among the greatest. The club's percentage of accurate shots – 28.4% – is as well among the lowest in the league.

During the initial phase of the previous campaign we mainly scored from an individual brilliance from one of our front three and in the second half it was more from a dead ball,” the manager said. “This season we have not seen as many acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the team that from live action produces the highest xG chances.”

Recent Additions

They are not beating rivals in the fashion the coach imagined when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were acquired this summer, although Liverpool are the division's joint third-highest scorers. A tie on Sunday would be sufficient for him to attain the 100-point total in less games than any boss in Liverpool's past (forty-six). Imagine what his offense will do when it clicks. The side are still a squad of outstanding talent, capable of igniting and catching any rival for the championship, but unity is missing. That cannot be attributed on the recent arrivals only.

Individual and Team Challenges

Salah is not the only established player to suffer a dip, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to form and the defender laboring. But he ends up at the center of the turmoil that has of late enveloped the club. This extends to a individual level, with his sadness over the death of Jota clear on that heartfelt first game against the Cherries. The effect of his loss can not be measured nor dismissed.

Strategic Changes

In the prior campaign, he