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It has been a while, but Mohamed Salah reappeared playing the main part in recent days with a brace in Casablanca that confirmed Egypt's position at the upcoming World Cup. The main man stepping on the limelight another time. Liverpool need him to remain there.

Factors for Inconsistent Showings

There are several causes why variable, lackluster showings have been the common thread characterizing Liverpool's opening to their league defense, if they achieved seven straight victories or, before the Red Devils' visit to Anfield on Sunday, three consecutive defeats. The turmoil from numerous offseason moves, the coach's hunt for his top team, Diogo Jota's passing; Salah has felt the impact of them all during his atypically subdued start to the term.

Sunday's Key Fixture

The weekend's showpiece occasion could provide the catalyst for the cause of a impressive 16 strikes in 17 outings for Liverpool against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not triumphed at their biggest foes for more than nine years. Salah will pose the manager with another unforeseen dilemma, though, should he remain lost in the disruption much longer.

Recent Form

Liverpool's head coach likely noticed the contrast of the player's first goal against the opponent recently. Swept directly with the outside of his left foot into the near post, Salah's eighth strike of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign was from an nearly the same spot to his expensive error in the Chelsea match prior to the national team pause.

Had that right-foot effort been finished shortly after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be eulogising Florian Wirtz's first sublime pass in the English top flight. Inquests into Salah's drop and the team's unusual losing run might as well have been avoided. Rather, the midfielder's search goes on while Slot broods over a third consecutive away defeat, two caused by last-minute winners and another the result of a debatable penalty. Fine lines, as he repeated on Friday, but they do not mask underlying concerns.

Last Season's Contribution

Salah was instrumental in driving the side towards a record-equalling 20th championship the previous term while uncertainty over his career persisted in the background. We achieved almost the utmost out of Salah last term,” said Slot when his main attacker signed a new two‑year contract in the spring. There has been a clear decrease on an personal and team level from then. The team, not the terms of a contract, are to blame.

Performance Drop

The 33-year-old's output in terms of goals and assists is reduced 50% on the corresponding point the prior campaign, from a total 8 in the opening seven league games of last season to 4 (a pair of goals and two assists) this season. His tally of attempts has fallen from 22 to twelve while efforts on goal have dropped from 15 to 5, causing a sharp fall in shooting accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6%, figures show.

A particular skill that has remained consistent is his chance creation. With twelve opportunities made, against 14 at the same stage of last campaign, his figures are among the top in the continent and comparable in the company of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by 15 and thirteen years each.

Collective Output

Metrics of team performance will concern the coach further. Salah had 76 touches in the opposition box in the initial seven matches of the previous term. The current campaign's count is thirty-nine. The numbers are symptomatic of the squad's problems in general. Only United and Arsenal have attempted a greater number of attempts on goal than them now, but the team's rate of shots from inside the goal area is the smallest in the Premier League, their percentage from long range among the top. The club's percentage of accurate shots – 28.4 percent – is as well among the poorest in the league.

“In the first half of last season we mostly found the net from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the second half it was mostly from a dead ball,” Slot said. “Now we lack as numerous sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are nonetheless the team that from open play generates the most expected goals opportunities.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't punishing foes in the fashion the coach planned when Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were signed in the offseason, although the team are the division's joint third-highest scorers. A tie on the weekend would be sufficient for him to achieve the 100-point mark in fewer games than any manager in Liverpool's history (46). Imagine what his forward line will do when it clicks. Liverpool are still a squad of supreme talent, able to starting and chasing any rival for the championship, but unity is missing. That cannot be pinned on the recent arrivals only.

Personal and Collective Challenges

The player is not the sole established member to suffer a decline, with the midfielder working his way back to match sharpness and Ibrahima Konaté laboring. But he is at the center of the disruption that has recently affected the club. This extends to a individual level, with Salah's sorrow over the loss of Diogo Jota evident on that poignant first game against Bournemouth. The impact of his tragedy can not be measured nor ignored.

Strategic Shifts

Last season, he