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It has been a while, but Liverpool's forward was back playing the starring role last week with a brace in Casablanca that sealed the Egyptian team's spot at the global tournament. The key player taking the limelight once more. The Reds need him to remain there.

Causes for Inconsistent Performances

There are many factors why inconsistent, unimpressive performances have been the common thread running through Liverpool's opening to their league defense, if they achieved seven wins in a row or, before Manchester United's arrival to Anfield on the weekend, a losing run. The disruption from numerous summer changes, the coach's hunt for his top team, the late forward's tragic death; Salah has experienced the consequences of them all during his uncharacteristically low-key opening to the campaign.

Sunday's Key Fixture

The weekend's showpiece occasion could offer the catalyst for the source of a record 16 scores in 17 games for Liverpool against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th visit to Anfield and have not triumphed at their fierce rivals for almost a decade. Salah will present the manager with an additional surprise issue, though, should he stay lost in the upheaval for an extended period.

Latest Display

Liverpool's head coach must have seen the paradox of the player's first goal against the opponent in midweek. Struck immediately with the outside of his stronger foot into the front post, his eighth strike of the national team's qualification run originated from an nearly the same spot to his expensive error against Chelsea prior to the break for internationals.

Had that right-foot effort been scored shortly after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be praising Florian Wirtz's first superb setup in the league. Analyses into Salah's dip and the team's unusual losing run might also have been avoided. Instead, Wirtz's search continues while the coach fumes over a third consecutive loss on the road, a couple due to dying-minute strikes and another the result of a controversial spot-kick. Narrow differences, as Slot emphasized on recently, but they do not camouflage larger problems.

Last Season's Influence

The forward was crucial in driving the side towards a tying 20th league title the previous term while doubt over his career lingered in the backdrop. “We brought nearly the maximum out of Salah that campaign,” said the manager when his leading striker signed an extension in the spring. We have seen a clear decline on an individual and collective level from then. The squad, not the terms of a contract, are accountable.

Statistical Drop

His production in terms of goals and setups is down half on the same stage last season, from a combined eight in the opening seven league games of last season to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. The count of attempts has decreased from 22 to twelve while shots on target have dropped from 15 to 5, leading to a sharp decline in shot accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6%, figures show.

One attribute that has remained consistent is Salah's playmaking. With 12 key passes, versus fourteen at the comparable period of last campaign, his stats are among the finest in Europe and comparable in the group of Lamine Yamal and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years respectively.

Collective Output

Indicators of team display will trouble Slot more. Salah had 76 touches in the opposition box in the opening seven matches of the prior campaign. This term's total is thirty-nine. The stats are indicative of the team's difficulties as a whole. Only United and the Gunners have attempted more attempts on goal than Liverpool this season, but Liverpool's proportion of attempts from inside the goal area is the smallest in the top flight, their share from outside the area among the top. Liverpool's proportion of accurate shots – 28.4% – is also among the poorest in the league.

During the initial phase of last season we mainly scored from a special moment from an attacker and in the second half it was mostly from a set piece,” Slot said. “Now we have not seen as many acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are still the team that from general play produces the highest quality opportunities.”

New Signings

They aren't punishing rivals in the way Slot planned when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were signed recently, though Liverpool remain the league's third-best goalscorers. A tie on Sunday would be sufficient for him to reach the 100-point mark in fewer games than any coach in the club's history (forty-six). Imagine what his offense will do when it finally gels. The side remain a squad of exceptional skill, able to igniting and catching any opponent for the title, but synergy is missing. That cannot be attributed on the recent arrivals alone.

Personal and Team Problems

Salah is not the only senior member to experience a drop-off, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to form and Ibrahima Konaté toiling. But he ends up at the heart of the turmoil that has of late enveloped the club. This goes to a personal level, with Salah's sadness over the passing of Jota clear on that poignant season opener against the Cherries. The influence of Jota's loss can not be quantified nor ignored.

Strategic Changes

In the prior campaign, he