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It has been a period, but Mohamed Salah reappeared playing the starring role in recent days with a brace in Morocco that sealed the Egyptian team's spot at the 2026 World Cup. The key player taking the limelight yet again. The Merseyside club must have him to remain there.

Factors for Variable Performances

We see many factors why variable, unimpressive showings have been the frequent pattern running through Liverpool's start to their title defence, whether they achieved a winning streak or, before the Red Devils' trip to Anfield on Sunday, three losses in a row. The disruption from multiple offseason moves, Arne Slot's search for his top team, the late forward's loss; Salah has felt the effect of them all during his uncharacteristically subdued opening to the campaign.

Sunday's Showpiece Occasion

The weekend's showpiece occasion could offer the impetus for the origin of a impressive 16 goals in 17 outings for the club against United, who are making their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not triumphed at their fierce rivals for more than nine years. The attacker will present the manager with an additional surprise issue, however, if he continue caught in the turmoil indefinitely.

Recent Form

Liverpool's boss likely recognized the contrast of Salah's opening strike against the opponent last Wednesday. Drilled first time with the exterior of his left foot inside the front post, his eighth goal of Egypt's qualification run was from an almost identical location to his expensive error versus Chelsea prior to the national team pause.

If that right-foot effort been scored shortly after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would still be celebrating the new signing's first sublime setup in the English top flight. Inquests into his dip and the team's infrequent losing streak might also have been postponed. Instead, the midfielder's search goes on while Slot fumes over a third consecutive loss on the road, two due to dying-minute strikes and another the result of a controversial spot-kick. Fine lines, as Slot emphasized on Friday, but they do not mask larger problems.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

Salah was key in driving the side towards a historic 20th championship the prior campaign while uncertainty over his future lingered in the background. We achieved nearly the best out of Mo that campaign,” said Slot when his main attacker signed an extension in April. There has been a clear decline on an individual and collective level since. The team, not the terms of a contract, are to blame.

Performance Decline

His contribution in terms of scores and assists is reduced half on the same point the previous term, from a combined 8 in the first seven fixtures of last season to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this season. The count of attempts has fallen from 22 to twelve while accurate shots have declined from 15 to 5, leading to a steep fall in conversion rate (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

A single trait that has held more steady is his chance creation. With twelve opportunities made, against fourteen at the same stage of last term, his stats remain among the top in the continent and up in the company of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and 13 years each.

Collective Output

Indicators of team display will trouble Slot additionally. He had 76 contacts in the enemy penalty area in the first seven league games of last season. This term's count is 39. These figures are symptomatic of the squad's problems in general. Just United and the Gunners have attempted a greater number of shots on goal than them in the current term, but the team's rate of attempts from inside the six-yard box is the smallest in the Premier League, their share from outside the area among the top. The club's percentage of shots on target – 28.4 percent – is also among the lowest in the competition.

During the initial phase of the previous campaign we mainly found the net from a moment of magic from a forward and in the second half it was more from a dead ball,” Slot said. “This season we haven’t had as numerous acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are still the team that from open play generates the most xG chances.”

New Signings

They are not beating rivals in the way the coach envisaged when Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were signed in the offseason, although the team are the league's equal third-top scorers. A draw on Sunday would be sufficient for him to attain the century of points in less games than any manager in Liverpool's past (forty-six). Consider what his forward line will do when it finally gels. Liverpool are still a squad of supreme individual quality, capable of sparking and reeling in any rival for the title, but unity is absent. That cannot be pinned on the recent arrivals only.

Personal and Collective Challenges

Salah is not the sole key member to experience a drop-off, with the midfielder working his way back to match sharpness and the defender toiling. But he ends up at the heart of the turmoil that has recently affected Liverpool. This goes to a individual level, with Salah's sadness over the passing of Diogo Jota evident on that poignant opening night against Bournemouth. The impact of his death can neither be measured nor ignored.

Strategic Shifts

Last season, he