🔗 Share this article

It's been some time, but Mohamed Salah was back taking on the main part in recent days with a brace in Casablanca that secured Egypt's spot at the 2026 World Cup. The main man stepping on the spotlight once more. The Merseyside club require him to stay there.

Reasons for Inconsistent Showings

There are many factors why unsteady, unconvincing showings have been the common thread running through the team's opening to their title defence, if they produced seven straight victories or, prior to Manchester United's visit to Anfield on Sunday, a losing run. The upheaval from multiple summer changes, the coach's quest for his top team, Diogo Jota's loss; the winger has felt the impact of them all during his atypically low-key beginning to the season.

Sunday's Showpiece Occasion

Sunday's key fixture could deliver the impetus for the cause of a record 16 strikes in 17 appearances for Liverpool against United, who are making their centenary trip to Anfield and have not succeeded at their archrivals for more than nine years. Salah will create the manager with another surprise issue, yet, should he continue lost in the disruption indefinitely.

Current Performance

Liverpool's head coach must have recognized the contrast of the player's initial score against the opponent in midweek. Swept immediately with the exterior of his left foot into the front post, his eighth goal of the national team's qualifying effort came from an very similar spot to his big mistake against Chelsea before the international break.

Had that attempt been finished moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be eulogising Florian Wirtz's maiden superb setup in the league. Discussions into Salah's decline and the team's unusual defeat streak might also have been delayed. Rather, Wirtz's search persists while the coach stews over a third loss on the road, two inflicted by late goals and another the result of a controversial spot-kick. Narrow differences, as Slot reiterated on recently, but they do not mask underlying concerns.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

Salah was instrumental in pushing Liverpool towards a tying 20th championship last season while doubt over his future rumbled in the backdrop. “We brought nearly the maximum out of Salah last term,” said the manager when his leading striker signed a new two‑year contract in April. There has been a obvious decrease on an personal and collective level from then. The squad, not the terms of a deal, are responsible.

Performance Drop

His contribution in terms of scores and assists is down 50% on the same point the previous term, from a total 8 in the opening seven matches of 2024-25 to 4 (two goals and two assists) this term. His tally of attempts has fallen from twenty-two to 12 while accurate shots have fallen from fifteen to 5, causing a significant fall in conversion rate (excluding blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

A particular skill that has held more steady is Salah's playmaking. With twelve chances created, versus 14 at the equivalent point of last term, his numbers are among the best in Europe and comparable in the company of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and 13 years each.

Collective Display

Measures of collective performance will concern Slot more. He had 76 contacts in the opposition penalty area in the initial seven matches of last season. The current campaign's total is thirty-nine. These figures are indicative of the squad's difficulties as a whole. Just Manchester United and the Gunners have taken more shots on goal than Liverpool this season, but Liverpool's rate of shots from within the six-yard box is the lowest in the Premier League, their percentage from long range among the top. Liverpool's proportion of shots on target – 28.4 percent – is also among the poorest in the league.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we mainly scored from an individual brilliance from an attacker and in the second half it was more from a set piece,” Slot said. “This season we lack as many sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are still the side that from open play creates the most quality opportunities.”

Recent Additions

They aren't punishing opponents in the fashion Slot envisaged when Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were brought on board recently, while the team remain the division's equal third-top goalscorers. A tie on the weekend would be enough for Slot to reach the 100-point total in less games than any manager in the club's history (46). Imagine what his forward line will do when it does settle. Liverpool are still a team of exceptional talent, able to igniting and catching any foe for the championship, but unity is lacking. That can not be pinned on the recent arrivals alone.

Personal and Team Problems

Salah is not the sole key player to experience a dip, with the midfielder working his way back to fitness and Ibrahima Konaté toiling. But he finds himself at the heart of the upheaval that has recently enveloped the club. This applies to a personal level, with Salah's sorrow over the loss of Diogo Jota evident on that heartfelt season opener against Bournemouth. The influence of his death can neither be measured nor ignored.

Strategic Changes

In the prior campaign, he