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It has been some time, but Mohamed Salah was back taking on the main part in recent days with two goals in Casablanca that confirmed Egypt's position at the upcoming World Cup. The main man claiming center stage another time. The Merseyside club must have him to keep that position.

Reasons for Inconsistent Showings

We see several factors why inconsistent, lackluster performances have been the frequent pattern defining the team's opening to their title defence, whether they achieved seven wins in a row or, prior to the Red Devils' arrival to Anfield on Sunday, three consecutive defeats. The turmoil from multiple offseason moves, Arne Slot's hunt for his best XI, the late forward's loss; the winger has endured the impact of them all during his atypically low-key start to the season.

The Weekend's Showpiece Occasion

The weekend's showpiece occasion could offer the spark for the cause of a record 16 scores in 17 appearances for the club against United, who are making their centenary trip to Anfield and have not won at their fierce rivals for over nine years. The attacker will pose Slot with an additional unforeseen dilemma, though, should he continue lost in the disruption for an extended period.

Current Display

The team's boss must have recognized the contrast of Salah's first goal against Djibouti in midweek. Struck directly with the outside of his stronger foot into the close post, his eighth goal of Egypt's qualifying effort came from an nearly the same position to his costly miss against Chelsea prior to the national team pause.

If that right-foot effort been finished shortly after the resumption at Stamford Bridge we would still be eulogising Florian Wirtz's maiden sublime pass in the league. Discussions into his decline and Liverpool's infrequent losing run might as well have been delayed. Instead, Wirtz's search persists while Slot stews over a third defeat away, a couple due to late goals and another the result of a controversial spot-kick. Small margins, as he reiterated on recently, but they cannot hide bigger issues.

Last Season's Contribution

The forward was instrumental in driving Liverpool towards a tying 20th crown last season while speculation over his long-term plans rumbled in the background. We extracted almost the best out of Mo this season,” said Slot when his top scorer signed a fresh deal in the spring. We have seen a noticeable decrease on an personal and collective level from then. The lineup, not the details of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Drop

The 33-year-old's output in terms of scores and assists is reduced 50% on the same stage the previous term, from a total 8 in the first seven matches of 2024-25 to 4 (two goals and two assists) this season. The count of shots has dropped from twenty-two to 12 while efforts on goal have declined from fifteen to 5, leading to a sharp fall in shooting accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

A single trait that has remained consistent is his chance creation. With twelve opportunities made, versus fourteen at the comparable period of last campaign, his figures are among the finest in Europe and comparable in the group of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by 15 and thirteen years each.

Team Display

Measures of team display will trouble Slot further. He had 76 touches in the opposition penalty area in the initial seven league games of the previous term. The current campaign's count is 39. These figures are symptomatic of the squad's difficulties as a whole. Only Manchester United and the Gunners have tried more shots on goal than them now, but the team's percentage of attempts from inside the six-yard area is the smallest in the top flight, their ratio from outside the area among the top. The club's proportion of shots on target – 28.4 percent – is as well among the weakest in the competition.

During the initial phase of the previous campaign we mainly found the net from a moment of magic from one of our front three and in the later stage it was more from a free-kick or corner,” the manager said. “Currently we lack as many sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the team that from general play creates the highest expected goals opportunities.”

Recent Additions

They are not punishing rivals in the way the coach planned when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were brought on board this summer, although the team remain the league's equal third-top scorers. A draw on the weekend would be enough for him to attain the 100-point total in less games than any manager in Liverpool's history (forty-six). Imagine what his attack will do when it finally gels. Liverpool are still a squad of exceptional individual quality, able to starting and catching any foe for the title, but unity is missing. This cannot be blamed on the new signings by themselves.

Personal and Collective Challenges

Salah is not the only key player to experience a decline, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to fitness and the defender struggling. But he is at the core of the disruption that has of late affected the club. That applies to a individual level, with Salah's sorrow over the death of Diogo Jota clear on that heartfelt opening night against Bournemouth. The influence of Jota's loss can neither be assessed nor overlooked.

Tactical Changes

In the prior campaign, he