🔗 Share this article

It's been a period, but Liverpool's forward was back playing the starring role in recent days with a brace in Casablanca that confirmed the Egyptian team's spot at the upcoming World Cup. The main man stepping on the spotlight yet again. Liverpool must have him to keep that position.

Factors for Variable Displays

There are many factors why variable, unconvincing displays have been the frequent pattern running through the team's opening to their championship defense, if they produced a winning streak or, before the Red Devils' visit to Anfield on the weekend, three consecutive defeats. The disruption from multiple new signings, Arne Slot's hunt for his top team, Diogo Jota's passing; Salah has felt the consequences of them all during his uncharacteristically quiet start to the campaign.

Sunday's Big Match

Sunday's key fixture could offer the impetus for the source of a record 16 strikes in 17 games for the club against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not won at their biggest foes for over nine years. The attacker will create Slot with a further unexpected problem, however, should he continue caught in the turmoil for an extended period.

Latest Display

Liverpool's head coach likely noticed the paradox of the player's first goal against Djibouti recently. Swept first time with the outside of his left foot into the close post, Salah's eighth strike of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign was from an very similar spot to his big mistake against Chelsea before the national team pause.

If that shot with his right been scored moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would still be celebrating the new signing's first sublime pass in the league. Discussions into his drop and the team's rare losing streak might as well have been avoided. Instead, the midfielder's wait continues while Slot broods over a third consecutive defeat away, two inflicted by dying-minute strikes and another the result of a disputed penalty. Narrow differences, as he repeated on Friday, but they do not camouflage bigger issues.

Previous Campaign's Impact

The forward was instrumental in pushing Liverpool towards a record-equalling 20th league title last season while speculation over his future persisted in the backdrop. We extracted nearly the utmost out of Salah this season,” said the manager when his top scorer signed a fresh deal in the spring. There has been a noticeable decline on an individual and team level since. The lineup, not the details of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Decline

His production in terms of scores and setups is lower 50% on the same stage last season, from a combined eight in the first seven fixtures of last season to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this term. His number of shots has fallen from 22 to twelve while efforts on goal have declined from 15 to five, causing a sharp fall in conversion rate (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, data show.

A single trait that has stayed stable is his creativity. With 12 key passes, compared with 14 at the same stage of last campaign, his figures are among the top in Europe and comparable in the company of young talents and Arda Güler, his juniors by 15 and 13 years respectively.

Collective Display

Measures of collective output will trouble Slot more. Salah had 76 contacts in the enemy penalty area in the first seven matches of last season. This term's count is thirty-nine. The numbers are reflective of the team's issues in general. Only Manchester United and Arsenal have taken a greater number of attempts on goal than Liverpool in the current term, but the team's rate of attempts from within the goal area is the lowest in the top flight, their ratio from outside the area among the greatest. Liverpool's rate of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the weakest in the competition.

During the initial phase of last season we mainly found the net 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. “Currently we haven’t had as many moments of genius and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are still the side that from general play generates the most quality opportunities.”

New Signings

They are not punishing rivals in the fashion the coach planned when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were signed recently, though Liverpool stay the division's joint third-highest goalscorers. A tie on Sunday would be enough for Slot to reach the century of points in less games than any manager in the club's past (46). Think what his offense will do when it finally gels. The side are still a team of exceptional individual quality, capable of igniting and chasing any foe for the championship, but synergy is absent. This can not be pinned on the recent arrivals alone.

Personal and Team Challenges

Salah is not the only key member to experience a decline, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to match sharpness and Ibrahima Konaté laboring. But he finds himself at the core of the disruption that has of late affected the club. This goes to a individual level, with Salah's sadness over the death of Diogo Jota obvious on that emotional first game against Bournemouth. The influence of Jota's death can not be measured nor ignored.

Strategic Changes

In the prior campaign, he