🔗 Share this article

It has been a period, but Mohamed Salah reappeared taking on the main part in recent days with a brace in Casablanca that secured Egypt's spot at the 2026 World Cup. The key player claiming the spotlight once more. The Reds need him to stay there.

Reasons for Unsteady Showings

There are several causes why inconsistent, unimpressive performances have been the recurring theme defining Liverpool's opening to their title defence, whether they produced seven straight victories or, prior to Manchester United's arrival to Anfield on Sunday, a losing run. The upheaval from multiple offseason moves, the coach's search for his ideal lineup, Diogo Jota's passing; the winger has felt the consequences of them all during his unusually low-key opening to the season.

The Weekend's Big Match

Sunday's showpiece occasion could provide the catalyst for the cause of a impressive 16 strikes in 17 games for Liverpool against United, who are making their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not succeeded at their archrivals for more than nine years. Salah will pose the manager with a further unexpected problem, though, should he stay lost in the disruption much longer.

Recent Form

Liverpool's head coach likely recognized the irony of Salah's first goal against the opponent in midweek. Drilled first time with the outside of his left foot inside the front post, Salah's eighth strike of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign came from an very similar location to his expensive error versus Chelsea prior to the international break.

Had that attempt been finished shortly after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would still be eulogising the new signing's first sublime assist in the Premier League. Discussions into Salah's dip and Liverpool's infrequent losing run might also have been postponed. Rather, the midfielder's search persists while the coach fumes over a third defeat away, two inflicted by last-minute winners and one the result of a disputed penalty. Small margins, as Slot emphasized on Friday, but they cannot hide underlying concerns.

Previous Campaign's Influence

The forward was instrumental in driving Liverpool towards a historic 20th crown last season while speculation over his career lingered in the backdrop. We extracted almost the maximum out of Mo this season,” said Slot when his main attacker signed a new two‑year contract in April. There has been a clear drop-off on an individual and collective level since. The lineup, not the details of a contract, are accountable.

Performance Decline

His production in terms of goals and setups is down half on the corresponding stage last season, from a combined eight in the initial seven league games of last season to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this term. His tally of shots has fallen from 22 to 12 while efforts on goal have fallen from fifteen to 5, leading to a steep fall in shot accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, figures show.

One attribute that has held more steady is Salah's playmaking. With 12 opportunities made, against fourteen at the comparable period of the previous season, his figures remain among the top in Europe and comparable in the group of Lamine Yamal and rising stars, his juniors by fifteen and 13 years each.

Team Output

Measures of collective output will worry Slot additionally. Salah had 76 contacts in the enemy penalty area in the first seven fixtures of the previous term. This season's count is thirty-nine. The numbers are indicative of the squad's issues in general. Just United and the Gunners have attempted a greater number of shots on goal than them in the current term, but the team's rate of attempts from inside the six-yard area is the smallest in the top flight, their ratio from distance among the top. Liverpool's proportion of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the weakest in the league.

During the initial phase of last season we primarily scored from a special moment from one of our front three and in the second half it was mostly from a free-kick or corner,” the manager said. “Now we haven’t had as many acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are nonetheless the side that from general play creates the highest xG chances.”

New Signings

They are not hurting foes in the way the coach envisaged when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were brought on board this summer, though Liverpool stay the division's joint third-highest goalscorers. A tie on Sunday would be enough for Slot to attain the century of points in fewer games than any coach in Liverpool's past (46). Imagine what his forward line will do when it does settle. Liverpool remain a team of outstanding talent, equipped to starting and catching any opponent for the title, but synergy is lacking. This cannot be attributed on the recent arrivals by themselves.

Personal and Team Problems

Salah is not the sole established member to suffer a decline, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to match sharpness and Ibrahima Konaté laboring. But he is at the core of the disruption that has lately engulfed Liverpool. This applies to a individual level, with his grief over the death of Jota obvious on that heartfelt opening night against the Cherries. The impact of Jota's loss can not be quantified nor dismissed.

Strategic Shifts

In the prior campaign, he