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It's been a period, but Mohamed Salah reappeared playing the main part in recent days with two goals in Casablanca that secured the Egyptian team's position at the upcoming World Cup. The main man stepping on the limelight yet again. The Merseyside club must have him to stay there.

Factors for Inconsistent Showings

There exist many causes why unsteady, unimpressive displays have been the frequent pattern defining Liverpool's start to their title defence, whether they recorded seven wins in a row or, before the Red Devils' arrival to Liverpool's home ground on the weekend, a losing run. The disruption from numerous offseason moves, Arne Slot's hunt for his ideal lineup, the late forward's passing; the winger has experienced the effect of them all during his uncharacteristically low-key start to the campaign.

Sunday's Key Fixture

The weekend's showpiece occasion could deliver the catalyst for the source of a record 16 strikes in 17 games for Liverpool against United, who are making their 100th visit to Anfield and have not won at their fierce rivals for almost a decade. The attacker will present the manager with a further surprise issue, yet, should he continue caught in the turmoil indefinitely.

Current Form

The team's boss must have noticed the contrast of the player's first goal against the opponent recently. Swept directly with the outside of his stronger foot inside the close post, Salah's eighth score of the national team's qualifying effort came from an very similar location to his costly miss versus Chelsea before the break for internationals.

Had that right-foot effort been scored moments after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would still be celebrating the new signing's maiden sublime pass in the English top flight. Inquests into his decline and Liverpool's rare losing run might as well have been avoided. Instead, Wirtz's search goes on while the coach stews over a third consecutive defeat away, a couple due to dying-minute strikes and one the result of a debatable penalty. Small margins, as he reiterated on Friday, but they do not mask bigger issues.

Previous Campaign's Influence

Salah was key in pushing the side towards a historic 20th league title the prior campaign while doubt over his future lingered in the background. We extracted almost the best out of Salah last term,” said the manager when his top scorer signed a new two‑year contract in the spring. We have seen a obvious decline on an personal and team level since. The lineup, not the details of a deal, are to blame.

Statistical Decrease

The 33-year-old's contribution in terms of goals and assists is lower half on the corresponding point the previous term, from a combined 8 in the opening seven league games of last season to 4 (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this season. His tally of shots has fallen from 22 to twelve while shots on target have dropped from 15 to 5, causing a significant fall in shot accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, figures show.

A single trait that has held more steady is his playmaking. With twelve chances created, compared with 14 at the comparable period of last term, his figures stay among the best in Europe and up in the company of Lamine Yamal and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years each.

Team Output

Indicators of collective output will concern the coach further. Salah had seventy-six touches in the opposition box in the first seven fixtures of the previous term. This term's total is thirty-nine. These figures are symptomatic of the squad's issues in general. Only Manchester United and the Gunners have attempted a greater number of attempts on goal than them this season, but the team's proportion of attempts from inside the six-yard area is the poorest in the top flight, their ratio from outside the area among the top. Liverpool's rate of accurate shots – 28.4 percent – is as well among the weakest in the competition.

“In the first half of last season we mainly found the net from a special moment from an attacker and in the second half it was mostly from a free-kick or corner,” the manager said. “Now we lack as numerous moments of genius and we have not found the net from dead balls. But we are still the team that from open play generates the highest expected goals opportunities.”

Recent Additions

They aren't hurting rivals in the manner the coach imagined when Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were acquired recently, although the team are the league's equal third-top goalscorers. A tie on the weekend would be enough for Slot to attain the 100-point mark in less games than any boss in Liverpool's history (forty-six). Think what his attack will do when it finally gels. The side are still a squad of supreme skill, capable of sparking and catching any opponent for the title, but cohesion is absent. That can not be blamed on the summer recruits by themselves.

Individual and Collective Challenges

Salah is not the sole senior member to suffer a dip, with the midfielder working his way back to form and the defender struggling. But he finds himself at the heart of the turmoil that has recently engulfed Liverpool. That goes to a personal level, with Salah's sorrow over the loss of Diogo Jota clear on that emotional season opener against Bournemouth. The influence of Jota's loss can neither be measured nor ignored.

Tactical Changes

In the prior campaign, he