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It has been a period, but the Egyptian star reappeared playing the starring role last week with a double in Morocco that secured Egypt's place at the global tournament. The main man claiming the spotlight yet again. The Merseyside club need him to keep that position.

Reasons for Unsteady Showings

There exist many reasons why inconsistent, unimpressive showings have been the common thread characterizing the team's opening to their championship defense, if they recorded seven wins in a row or, before the Red Devils' trip to Anfield on Sunday, three consecutive defeats. The upheaval from so many summer changes, the coach's hunt for his best XI, Diogo Jota's passing; Salah has felt the impact of them all during his atypically low-key opening to the season.

The Weekend's Key Fixture

The weekend's big match could provide the catalyst for the source of a impressive 16 goals in 17 appearances for the club against United, who are paying their centenary trip to the stadium and have not won at their biggest foes for over nine years. Salah will create the manager with another unforeseen dilemma, yet, if he stay lost in the turmoil indefinitely.

Latest Display

Liverpool's head coach likely recognized the contrast of Salah's opening strike against the opponent in midweek. Struck directly with the exterior of his left foot inside the front post, Salah's eighth goal of the national team's qualifying effort originated from an very similar spot to his big mistake against Chelsea prior to the national team pause.

Had that right-foot effort been scored shortly after the restart at Stamford Bridge we would still be praising the new signing's maiden excellent setup in the English top flight. Discussions into Salah's drop and the team's unusual losing streak might as well have been postponed. Rather, the midfielder's search continues while the coach fumes over a third away defeat, a couple inflicted by dying-minute strikes and another the result of a disputed penalty. Small margins, as he reiterated on recently, but they do not camouflage bigger issues.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

The forward was key in pushing Liverpool towards a record-equalling 20th crown the previous term while speculation over his future persisted in the background. “We brought nearly the utmost out of Salah this season,” said the manager when his leading striker signed an extension in April. There has been a clear decrease on an personal and team level since. The squad, not the terms of a contract, are accountable.

Statistical Decrease

The 33-year-old's contribution in terms of scores and assists is lower half on the corresponding stage the prior campaign, from a combined 8 in the opening seven league games of last season to four (two goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. His number of shots has fallen from twenty-two to 12 while efforts on goal have declined from 15 to five, leading to a steep decline in shot accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, figures show.

One attribute that has held more steady is his chance creation. With twelve chances created, compared with fourteen at the same stage of last term, his figures stay among the finest in Europe and comparable in the company of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his juniors by fifteen and thirteen years respectively.

Team Performance

Measures of team output will worry the coach more. He had seventy-six contacts in the opposition box in the opening seven league games of last season. This term's tally is thirty-nine. The numbers are symptomatic of the squad's problems as a whole. Only Manchester United and the Gunners have tried more shots on goal than Liverpool this season, but the team's percentage of shots from inside the six-yard box is the lowest in the Premier League, their ratio from long range among the top. The club's percentage of shots on target – 28.4 percent – is as well among the lowest in the league.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we mainly scored from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the second half it was more from a set piece,” Slot said. “This season we have not seen as many acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are nonetheless the side that from general play produces the most expected goals opportunities.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't beating foes in the manner the coach imagined when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were signed in the offseason, though the team stay the league's joint third-highest scorers. A tie on Sunday would be sufficient for him to reach the 100-point mark in less games than any boss in Liverpool's history (46). Think what his forward line will do when it does settle. Liverpool remain a squad of outstanding skill, able to starting and reeling in any opponent for the title, but cohesion is missing. That can not be blamed on the recent arrivals alone.

Individual and Collective Challenges

Salah is not the only established player to suffer a decline, with the midfielder regaining to match sharpness and the defender toiling. But he is at the core of the upheaval that has lately engulfed the club. That extends to a personal level, with Salah's sorrow over the loss of Jota evident on that heartfelt season opener against Bournemouth. The impact of Jota's death can neither be assessed nor overlooked.

Tactical Adjustments

In the prior campaign, he