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It's been a while, but Mohamed Salah was back taking on the starring role recently with a brace in Morocco that sealed the Egyptian team's place at the global tournament. The star stepping on center stage yet again. Liverpool need him to keep that position.

Causes for Inconsistent Displays

There are many causes why unsteady, unimpressive displays have been the recurring theme characterizing Liverpool's opening to their championship defense, whether they achieved seven wins in a row or, before the Red Devils' visit to Anfield on Sunday, a losing run. The disruption from numerous offseason moves, the coach's hunt for his ideal lineup, Diogo Jota's loss; Salah has experienced the consequences of them all during his unusually subdued opening to the campaign.

The Weekend's Key Fixture

The weekend's showpiece occasion could deliver the catalyst for the cause of a impressive 16 goals in 17 appearances for Liverpool against Manchester United, who are paying their centenary trip to the stadium and have not succeeded at their archrivals for more than nine years. Salah will present the manager with an additional unexpected problem, though, should he remain lost in the disruption for an extended period.

Current Performance

Liverpool's head coach likely noticed the contrast of Salah's initial score against the opponent in midweek. Drilled immediately with the exterior of his left foot into the front post, Salah's eighth score of Egypt's qualification run was from an very similar position to his big mistake versus Chelsea prior to the national team pause.

If that shot with his right been finished moments after the resumption at Chelsea's ground we would still be eulogising Florian Wirtz's first excellent setup in the English top flight. Analyses into his dip and Liverpool's rare losing streak might also have been delayed. Instead, the midfielder's wait continues while Slot stews over a third consecutive away defeat, two inflicted by late goals and one the outcome of a controversial spot-kick. Fine lines, as he emphasized on Friday, but they do not camouflage bigger issues.

Last Season's Impact

Salah was instrumental in driving the side towards a tying 20th championship the prior campaign while speculation over his long-term plans persisted in the background. We extracted almost the maximum out of Salah this season,” said the manager when his main attacker signed a fresh deal in the spring. We have seen a noticeable decrease on an personal and team level since. The squad, not the details of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Decline

His output in terms of goals and assists is reduced 50% on the corresponding point last season, from a total eight in the opening seven fixtures of last season to 4 (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. His tally of shots has fallen from twenty-two to twelve while accurate shots have fallen from fifteen to five, leading to a significant decline in conversion rate (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, data show.

One attribute that has stayed stable is his chance creation. With twelve key passes, versus fourteen at the comparable period of last campaign, his stats stay among the finest in Europe and comparable in the company of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and thirteen years each.

Team Display

Measures of collective display will worry Slot further. He had 76 touches in the opposition penalty area in the opening seven fixtures of last season. This term's tally is thirty-nine. These figures are indicative of the team's issues in general. Just United and the Gunners have tried a greater number of shots on goal than them this season, but the team's proportion of attempts from inside the six-yard area is the smallest in the Premier League, their ratio from distance among the greatest. The club's rate of efforts on goal – 28.4 percent – is also among the lowest in the competition.

“In the first half of last season we primarily found the net from an individual brilliance from an attacker and in the later stage it was more from a dead ball,” the manager said. “This season we have not seen as many sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are still the team that from general play generates the most expected goals opportunities.”

Recent Additions

They are not hurting foes in the fashion Slot imagined when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were brought on board recently, though Liverpool stay the league's joint third-highest goalscorers. A tie on the weekend would be sufficient for Slot to achieve the 100-point total in fewer games than any coach in Liverpool's history (forty-six). Think what his forward line will do when it clicks. Liverpool remain a team of exceptional skill, equipped to sparking and catching any foe for the title, but synergy is missing. This cannot be pinned on the new signings by themselves.

Individual and Team Challenges

The player is not the sole senior member to experience a decline, with the midfielder returning to match sharpness and the defender laboring. But he is at the heart of the disruption that has of late engulfed Liverpool. This goes to a personal level, with Salah's grief over the loss of Jota clear on that poignant season opener against Bournemouth. The effect of Jota's loss can not be quantified nor dismissed.

Strategic Shifts

Last season, he