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It has been a while, but the Egyptian star returned taking on the starring role in recent days with a double in Morocco that sealed the Egyptian team's spot at the 2026 World Cup. The star taking the limelight another time. Liverpool need him to keep that position.

Causes for Unsteady Showings

There are several reasons why inconsistent, unimpressive displays have been the frequent pattern characterizing the team's opening to their championship defense, whether they achieved seven straight victories or, before Manchester United's trip to Anfield on the weekend, three losses in a row. The disruption from so many offseason moves, Arne Slot's hunt for his best XI, Diogo Jota's tragic death; the winger has felt the impact of them all during his unusually low-key beginning to the campaign.

Sunday's Key Fixture

Sunday's key fixture could offer the catalyst for the cause of a impressive 16 goals in 17 outings for the club against United, who are making their 100th visit to Anfield and have not won at their archrivals for almost a decade. The attacker will create Slot with another surprise issue, yet, should he stay lost in the disruption for an extended period.

Latest Display

The team's head coach must have recognized the paradox of the player's first goal against the opponent in midweek. Drilled immediately with the exterior of his stronger foot inside the close post, Salah's eighth score of the national team's qualifying effort originated from an nearly the same position to his costly miss against Chelsea before the international break.

Had that right-foot effort been finished shortly after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would still be praising the new signing's maiden superb pass in the league. Inquests into Salah's decline and the team's infrequent defeat streak might as well have been avoided. Instead, Wirtz's wait persists while the coach fumes over a third consecutive loss on the road, a couple inflicted by dying-minute strikes and another the outcome of a controversial spot-kick. Narrow differences, as he emphasized on recently, but they do not camouflage bigger issues.

Previous Campaign's Influence

The forward was instrumental in driving the side towards a historic 20th crown the prior campaign while doubt over his future rumbled in the backdrop. We achieved nearly the best out of Salah last term,” said the manager when his leading striker signed a fresh deal in April. There has been a obvious decrease on an individual and collective level from then. The squad, not the terms of a deal, are to blame.

Statistical Decline

His contribution in terms of scores and setups is reduced 50% on the same stage the prior campaign, from a combined 8 in the opening seven fixtures of 2024-25 to four (two goals and two assists) this season. His tally of shots has decreased from twenty-two to 12 while accurate shots have fallen from fifteen to 5, causing a sharp decline in shot accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, data show.

One attribute that has remained consistent is Salah's playmaking. With twelve opportunities made, compared with 14 at the same stage of last term, his stats remain among the top in Europe and up in the ranks of Lamine Yamal and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years respectively.

Collective Output

Measures of collective display will concern Slot further. He had seventy-six touches in the opposition box in the initial seven league games of last season. This season's count is thirty-nine. The numbers are indicative of the team's problems in general. Only Manchester United and the Gunners have tried more attempts on goal than Liverpool in the current term, but the team's percentage of shots from within the goal area is the poorest in the top flight, their percentage from long range among the greatest. Liverpool's rate of efforts on goal – 28.4 percent – is as well among the poorest in the competition.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we mostly found the net from an individual brilliance from an attacker and in the later stage it was mostly from a set piece,” the manager said. “Currently we haven’t had as many moments of genius and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are nonetheless the side that from live action generates the highest quality opportunities.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't beating foes in the manner Slot planned when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were acquired recently, though Liverpool stay the division's third-best goalscorers. A draw on the weekend would be sufficient for Slot to attain the century of points in less games than any manager in the club's past (forty-six). Think what his attack will do when it clicks. The side remain a team of supreme skill, able to igniting and reeling in any rival for the championship, but unity is absent. That cannot be blamed on the summer recruits only.

Personal and Team Challenges

The player is not the sole established member to experience a drop-off, with Alexis Mac Allister working his way back to match sharpness and the defender toiling. But he finds himself at the core of the turmoil that has of late enveloped Liverpool. That extends to a individual level, with his sadness over the death of Jota obvious on that emotional opening night against Bournemouth. The impact of Jota's death can neither be measured nor overlooked.

Strategic Adjustments

Last season, he