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It's been a period, but Mohamed Salah was back taking on the starring role last week with a double in Casablanca that secured the Egyptian team's spot at the 2026 World Cup. The star taking center stage another time. The Merseyside club require him to stay there.

Reasons for Variable Performances

We see many reasons why variable, lackluster performances have been the common thread running through the team's start to their championship defense, whether they recorded seven straight victories or, prior to the Red Devils' arrival to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three consecutive defeats. The turmoil from numerous summer changes, Arne Slot's hunt for his best XI, the late forward's tragic death; Salah has endured the effect of them all during his atypically quiet beginning to the season.

The Weekend's Big Match

Sunday's big match could deliver the spark for the source of a record 16 goals in 17 appearances for the club against Manchester United, who are making their 100th visit to Anfield and have not won at their archrivals for almost a decade. The attacker will pose Slot with a further unforeseen dilemma, however, if he stay lost in the turmoil much longer.

Latest Performance

Liverpool's boss likely recognized the paradox of Salah's opening strike against Djibouti last Wednesday. Drilled directly with the exterior of his stronger foot into the close post, Salah's eighth strike of Egypt's qualification run was from an nearly the same location to his costly miss in the Chelsea match before the international break.

Had that attempt been converted moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be praising the new signing's first superb pass in the league. Discussions into Salah's decline and Liverpool's rare losing run might as well have been delayed. Rather, Wirtz's wait continues while the coach stews over a third away defeat, two due to dying-minute strikes and one the result of a debatable penalty. Narrow differences, as he reiterated on recently, but they do not mask bigger issues.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

The forward was instrumental in driving the side towards a historic 20th crown last season while doubt over his long-term plans lingered in the background. “We brought nearly the maximum out of Mo last term,” said the manager when his top scorer signed a new two‑year contract in April. There has been a clear drop-off on an personal and team level since. The lineup, not the details of a deal, are to blame.

Performance Drop

The 33-year-old's contribution in terms of goals and assists is lower half on the corresponding stage the previous term, from a combined 8 in the opening seven matches of last season to four (two goals and two assists) this term. His tally of attempts has fallen from 22 to twelve while efforts on goal have fallen from fifteen to five, causing a steep fall in shooting accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

A single trait that has held more steady is Salah's creativity. With 12 key passes, compared with fourteen at the comparable period of last campaign, his stats are among the top in the continent and comparable in the group of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years each.

Collective Display

Measures of team performance will concern the coach more. He had 76 contacts in the enemy penalty area in the opening seven league games of the previous term. This term's count is 39. The stats are symptomatic of the squad's issues as a whole. Just United and the Gunners have tried a greater number of attempts on goal than them in the current term, but the team's percentage of shots from within the goal area is the smallest in the top flight, their share from distance among the highest. Liverpool's proportion of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the weakest in the league.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we mostly scored from an individual brilliance from one of our front three and in the later stage it was mostly from a set piece,” Slot said. “This season we have not seen as many moments of genius and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the team that from live action generates the most quality opportunities.”

Recent Additions

They aren't hurting opponents in the fashion the coach envisaged when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were brought on board this summer, although Liverpool stay the division's third-best scorers. A draw on Sunday would be sufficient for him to achieve the 100-point total in less games than any boss in Liverpool's history (forty-six). Think what his forward line will do when it clicks. Liverpool are still a team of outstanding skill, equipped to igniting and catching any foe for the championship, but cohesion is lacking. That cannot be pinned on the new signings by themselves.

Individual and Team Challenges

The player is not the only established player to suffer a dip, with the midfielder regaining to form and the defender struggling. But he finds himself at the core of the turmoil that has recently engulfed Liverpool. This extends to a personal level, with Salah's sorrow over the passing of Jota clear on that emotional opening night against Bournemouth. The influence of his tragedy can not be assessed nor dismissed.

Tactical Shifts

In the prior campaign, he