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It's been a while, but Mohamed Salah reappeared taking on the starring role last week with a brace in Casablanca that secured Egypt's place at the upcoming World Cup. The key player stepping on the limelight another time. The Reds must have him to keep that position.

Causes for Unsteady Performances

We see numerous factors why inconsistent, unimpressive displays have been the frequent pattern characterizing Liverpool's start to their league defense, whether they recorded a winning streak or, before Manchester United's trip to Anfield on Sunday, three losses in a row. The upheaval from multiple offseason moves, the coach's hunt for his top team, Diogo Jota's tragic death; Salah has felt the consequences of them all during his uncharacteristically subdued beginning to the term.

The Weekend's Big Match

The weekend's showpiece occasion could deliver the catalyst for the cause of a record 16 strikes in 17 appearances for Liverpool against United, who are making their 100th visit to Anfield and have not won at their biggest foes for over nine years. Salah will present Slot with a further unexpected problem, however, if he continue caught in the turmoil indefinitely.

Current Performance

Liverpool's manager likely recognized the irony of Salah's initial score against the opponent recently. Drilled directly with the exterior of his left foot inside the close post, Salah's eighth score of Egypt's qualifying effort came from an nearly the same spot to his costly miss against Chelsea before the international break.

If that attempt been converted moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be celebrating Florian Wirtz's maiden sublime pass in the English top flight. Analyses into his decline and the team's unusual defeat streak might as well have been avoided. Instead, Wirtz's search persists while the coach fumes over a third away defeat, a couple inflicted by dying-minute strikes and one the outcome of a debatable penalty. Narrow differences, as Slot emphasized on recently, but they cannot hide bigger issues.

Previous Campaign's Influence

The forward was crucial in driving Liverpool towards a historic 20th league title the prior campaign while speculation over his future rumbled in the background. We achieved almost the maximum out of Mo that campaign,” said Slot when his main attacker signed a fresh deal in April. We have seen a clear decrease on an personal and collective level since. The team, not the details of a contract, are to blame.

Performance Drop

His contribution in terms of goals and assists is down half on the same point the prior campaign, from a total eight in the initial seven league games of last season to four (a pair of goals and two assists) this season. His number of shots has fallen from 22 to twelve while efforts on goal have fallen from fifteen to 5, causing a significant fall in shot accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, figures show.

A particular skill that has remained consistent is his chance creation. With 12 chances created, against 14 at the equivalent point of last term, his stats remain among the top in the continent and comparable in the ranks of young talents and rising stars, his younger counterparts by 15 and 13 years respectively.

Collective Display

Metrics of collective output will trouble Slot additionally. He had seventy-six contacts in the opposition box in the opening seven fixtures of the prior campaign. This season's count is thirty-nine. These figures are symptomatic of the team's problems as a whole. Only United and Arsenal have tried more shots on goal than Liverpool this season, but the team's rate of attempts from inside the goal area is the lowest in the division, their percentage from long range among the highest. Liverpool's percentage of accurate shots – 28.4 percent – is as well among the weakest in the competition.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we primarily scored from a special moment from one of our front three and in the second half it was mostly from a free-kick or corner,” Slot said. “Now we have not seen as many sparks of quality and we have not found the net from dead balls. But we are still the team that from live action produces the most expected goals opportunities.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't hurting opponents in the manner Slot planned when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were brought on board recently, while Liverpool stay the league's equal third-top scorers. A tie on the weekend would be enough for Slot to achieve the 100-point mark in less games than any coach in the club's history (forty-six). Consider what his attack will do when it finally gels. Liverpool are still a squad of exceptional individual quality, able to sparking and catching any opponent for the championship, but cohesion is lacking. That cannot be pinned on the recent arrivals alone.

Individual and Team Issues

The player is not the sole key member to experience a dip, with the midfielder regaining to fitness and Ibrahima Konaté struggling. But he is at the center of the turmoil that has recently engulfed the club. This applies to a personal level, with Salah's grief over the loss of Diogo Jota clear on that emotional opening night against the Cherries. The impact of Jota's death can not be quantified nor dismissed.

Strategic Changes

In the prior campaign, he