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It has been some time, but Mohamed Salah reappeared taking on the starring role last week with two goals in Casablanca that confirmed Egypt's spot at the upcoming World Cup. The star stepping on center stage yet again. The Merseyside club need him to stay there.

Causes for Unsteady Displays

We see numerous reasons why unsteady, lackluster showings have been the common thread defining Liverpool's beginning to their championship defense, whether they recorded seven straight victories or, before the Red Devils' visit to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three losses in a row. The upheaval from so many new signings, Arne Slot's search for his top team, Diogo Jota's tragic death; the winger has endured the effect of them all during his unusually quiet beginning to the term.

The Weekend's Big Match

Sunday's big match could deliver the spark for the source of a impressive 16 strikes in 17 appearances for the club against United, who are paying their 100th visit to the stadium and have not triumphed at their archrivals for over nine years. Salah will create the manager with an additional surprise issue, though, if he stay lost in the turmoil for an extended period.

Recent Form

Liverpool's head coach likely recognized the paradox of Salah's opening strike against Djibouti in midweek. Swept first time with the exterior of his left foot inside the front post, his eighth score of Egypt's World Cup qualifying campaign was from an almost identical position to his costly miss against Chelsea before the international break.

If that attempt been finished moments after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would even now be celebrating the new signing's first excellent pass in the English top flight. Discussions into his decline and the team's infrequent defeat streak might also have been avoided. Rather, the midfielder's wait persists while Slot fumes over a third consecutive defeat away, a couple caused by last-minute winners and another the result of a disputed penalty. Narrow differences, as he repeated on recently, but they do not mask underlying concerns.

Last Season's Influence

Salah was crucial in pushing the side towards a record-equalling 20th championship the prior campaign while doubt over his long-term plans lingered in the backdrop. “We brought nearly the best out of Mo last term,” said Slot when his top scorer signed a fresh deal in April. There has been a obvious drop-off on an individual and collective level since. The squad, not the terms of a deal, are to blame.

Statistical Decline

His output in terms of scores and setups is lower 50% on the corresponding point the previous term, from a combined 8 in the opening seven fixtures of last season to 4 (two goals and two assists) this term. His number of shots has fallen from 22 to twelve while efforts on goal have dropped from 15 to five, causing a sharp drop in shot accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6%, data show.

A single trait that has stayed stable is Salah's creativity. With 12 key passes, compared with 14 at the same stage of the previous season, his figures are among the finest in the continent and comparable in the group of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by 15 and 13 years each.

Collective Performance

Metrics of team display will concern the coach more. Salah had seventy-six touches in the opposition box in the opening seven league games of the previous term. This season's tally is thirty-nine. The stats are reflective of the squad's problems as a whole. Only United and the Gunners have tried more attempts on goal than Liverpool now, but Liverpool's rate of attempts from inside the six-yard box is the smallest in the division, their share from outside the area among the greatest. Liverpool's percentage of efforts on goal – 28.4 percent – is as well among the poorest in the competition.

“In the first half of last season we mainly found the net from an individual brilliance from one of our front three and in the later stage it was more from a free-kick or corner,” Slot said. “Currently we have not seen as many acts of brilliance and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the side that from open play creates the most xG chances.”

Recent Additions

They aren't punishing rivals in the way the coach planned when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were acquired recently, though the team are the league's joint third-highest scorers. A draw on Sunday would be sufficient for Slot to achieve the 100-point total in less games than any manager in Liverpool's history (46). Consider what his attack will do when it finally gels. The side are still a squad of supreme individual quality, capable of sparking and catching any foe for the title, but synergy is absent. That cannot be attributed on the summer recruits by themselves.

Individual and Collective Issues

The player is not the sole senior player to suffer a decline, with the midfielder returning to match sharpness and Ibrahima Konaté toiling. But he finds himself at the center of the upheaval that has recently enveloped the club. That extends to a personal level, with his grief over the passing of Jota obvious on that heartfelt opening night against the Cherries. The impact of Jota's tragedy can not be measured nor dismissed.

Strategic Changes

Last season, he