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It has been some time, but Liverpool's forward reappeared playing the starring role in recent days with a double in Morocco that confirmed the Egyptian team's position at the 2026 World Cup. The main man stepping on the spotlight once more. The Merseyside club must have him to stay there.

Reasons for Inconsistent Showings

There exist many causes why inconsistent, unconvincing showings have been the recurring theme running through the team's opening to their title defence, whether they produced seven wins in a row or, before the Red Devils' arrival to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, a losing run. The turmoil from so many summer changes, Arne Slot's hunt for his best XI, the late forward's tragic death; Salah has experienced the impact of them all during his unusually quiet opening to the season.

The Weekend's Big Match

Sunday's key fixture could deliver the spark for the origin of a record 16 strikes in 17 outings for Liverpool against United, who are making their centenary trip to Anfield and have not won at their biggest foes for more than nine years. The attacker will present Slot with an additional unexpected problem, though, should he stay caught in the turmoil much longer.

Latest Performance

The team's head coach must have noticed the paradox of the player's initial score against the opponent last Wednesday. Struck first time with the exterior of his left foot inside the close post, Salah's eighth goal of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign came from an almost identical spot to his costly miss versus Chelsea before the national team pause.

If that right-foot effort been converted moments after the restart at Stamford Bridge we would even now be eulogising Florian Wirtz's maiden excellent assist in the league. Discussions into Salah's dip and Liverpool's unusual losing streak might as well have been delayed. Instead, the midfielder's wait continues while Slot broods over a third away defeat, two due to last-minute winners and one the outcome of a disputed penalty. Narrow differences, as Slot repeated on Friday, but they do not camouflage underlying concerns.

Previous Campaign's Impact

The forward was key in propelling Liverpool towards a historic 20th league title last season while uncertainty over his future persisted in the background. “We brought nearly the best out of Mo this season,” said Slot when his main attacker signed a new two‑year contract in April. There has been a noticeable drop-off on an personal and collective level from then. The lineup, not the terms of a contract, are to blame.

Performance Decrease

The 33-year-old's output in terms of goals and setups is reduced half on the same point last season, from a combined 8 in the opening seven league games of last season to four (a pair of goals and two assists) the current campaign. His tally of attempts has decreased from twenty-two to twelve while accurate shots have declined from fifteen to five, leading to a steep drop in shooting accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, data show.

A single trait that has remained consistent is his creativity. With 12 opportunities made, versus fourteen at the same stage of the previous season, his stats are among the best in Europe and up in the company of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and 13 years each.

Collective Display

Measures of team display will concern the coach additionally. He had 76 touches in the enemy penalty area in the initial seven league games of the previous term. This term's tally is 39. These figures are symptomatic of the team's issues overall. Just United and Arsenal have attempted a greater number of shots on goal than them now, but Liverpool's proportion of shots from inside the six-yard area is the lowest in the Premier League, their percentage from outside the area among the top. The club's proportion of accurate shots – 28.4 percent – is also among the lowest in the league.

During the initial phase of the previous campaign we primarily found the net from an individual brilliance from a forward and in the second half it was more from a set piece,” the manager said. “Currently we lack as many moments of genius and we have not found the net from dead balls. But we are still the team that from general play produces the highest xG chances.”

New Signings

They aren't hurting opponents in the manner Slot envisaged when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were acquired in the offseason, though the team are the league's equal third-top goalscorers. A draw on Sunday would be enough for him to reach the 100-point total in fewer games than any coach in Liverpool's history (forty-six). Consider what his forward line will do when it does settle. The side remain a team of exceptional individual quality, able to igniting and reeling in any opponent for the title, but synergy is lacking. That can not be attributed on the new signings alone.

Personal and Collective Problems

The player is not the sole senior member to experience a dip, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to fitness and Ibrahima Konaté laboring. But he is at the center of the turmoil that has recently affected Liverpool. This extends to a personal level, with his sorrow over the loss of Diogo Jota clear on that emotional opening night against Bournemouth. The effect of Jota's loss can not be quantified nor ignored.

Strategic Shifts

In the prior campaign, he