🔗 Share this article

It has been a while, but Mohamed Salah was back assuming the starring role last week with two goals in Morocco that confirmed Egypt's position at the upcoming World Cup. The key player stepping on the limelight once more. Liverpool must have him to remain there.

Reasons for Unsteady Displays

There are numerous causes why variable, lackluster performances have been the common thread running through Liverpool's beginning to their title defence, if they produced a winning streak or, before the Red Devils' visit to Anfield on Sunday, three losses in a row. The disruption from numerous summer changes, Arne Slot's quest for his best XI, Diogo Jota's passing; the winger has experienced the effect of them all during his unusually subdued beginning to the campaign.

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 the club against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not succeeded at their biggest foes for almost a decade. The attacker will create Slot with another unexpected problem, however, if he continue caught in the disruption indefinitely.

Recent Performance

Liverpool's boss must have recognized the contrast of the player's initial score against Djibouti in midweek. Drilled immediately with the outside of his left foot inside the near post, his eighth strike of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign was from an almost identical spot to his expensive error versus Chelsea prior to the break for internationals.

If that shot with his right been scored moments after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would even now be eulogising Florian Wirtz's maiden sublime setup in the Premier League. Discussions into Salah's decline and the team's unusual defeat streak might also have been delayed. Rather, Wirtz's wait persists while the coach fumes over a third defeat away, two inflicted by dying-minute strikes and another the outcome of a controversial spot-kick. Narrow differences, as Slot reiterated on recently, but they cannot hide underlying concerns.

Last Season's Contribution

The forward was crucial in propelling the side towards a tying 20th championship the prior campaign while uncertainty over his long-term plans lingered in the background. “We brought almost the maximum out of Mo this season,” said the manager when his top scorer signed a new two‑year contract in the spring. We have seen a noticeable decline on an individual and collective level from then. The team, not the details of a deal, are responsible.

Performance Drop

The 33-year-old's contribution in terms of goals and assists is reduced half on the same point last season, from a combined 8 in the first seven league games of last season to 4 (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this term. His tally of attempts has fallen from 22 to twelve while shots on target have declined from 15 to five, leading to a significant decline in shooting accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, data show.

A particular skill that has stayed stable is Salah's creativity. With 12 chances created, versus fourteen at the same stage of last campaign, his numbers stay among the finest in the continent and comparable in the company of Lamine Yamal and rising stars, his juniors by fifteen and 13 years respectively.

Team Performance

Indicators of collective output will worry the coach further. He had seventy-six touches in the enemy box in the opening seven fixtures of the prior campaign. This term's count is thirty-nine. The stats are symptomatic of the team's problems in general. Just Manchester United and the Gunners have taken a greater number of shots on goal than Liverpool this season, but Liverpool's rate of attempts from within the six-yard area is the lowest in the top flight, their ratio from distance among the greatest. The club's rate of accurate shots – 28.4 percent – is as well among the lowest in the competition.

“In the first half of last season we mainly found the net from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the later stage it was mostly from a set piece,” the manager said. “Currently we lack as many moments of genius and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are still the team that from open play generates the most xG chances.”

Recent Additions

They are not beating opponents in the way Slot envisaged when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were signed recently, though the team stay the league's joint third-highest goalscorers. A tie on Sunday would be sufficient for Slot to reach the 100-point mark in fewer games than any coach in the club's past (46). Consider what his attack will do when it finally gels. Liverpool remain a team of supreme individual quality, capable of sparking and catching any opponent for the championship, but cohesion is lacking. That cannot be pinned on the recent arrivals only.

Individual and Collective Problems

Salah is not the sole key member to suffer a drop-off, with the midfielder regaining to match sharpness and the defender toiling. But he ends up at the core of the turmoil that has lately enveloped Liverpool. That extends to a personal level, with his sadness over the passing of Diogo Jota clear on that heartfelt season opener against Bournemouth. The impact of his death can neither be measured nor overlooked.

Tactical Shifts

In the prior campaign, he