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It has been some time, but Mohamed Salah reappeared playing the starring role in recent days with two goals in Casablanca that secured the Egyptian team's position at the global tournament. The star taking the limelight another time. The Merseyside club need him to remain there.

Causes for Variable Showings

There are numerous factors why unsteady, unimpressive performances have been the frequent pattern characterizing Liverpool's beginning to their league defense, if they recorded a winning streak or, before Manchester United's arrival to Liverpool's home ground on the weekend, three consecutive defeats. The upheaval from numerous offseason moves, Arne Slot's search for his ideal lineup, Diogo Jota's tragic death; Salah has felt the consequences of them all during his uncharacteristically low-key opening to the season.

Sunday's Big Match

Sunday's key fixture could deliver the spark for the origin of a record 16 goals in 17 appearances for the club against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th visit to Anfield and have not triumphed at their biggest foes for almost a decade. The attacker will create the manager with another unexpected problem, yet, should he remain caught in the disruption indefinitely.

Current Display

Liverpool's head coach must have noticed the contrast of Salah's initial score against Djibouti last Wednesday. Drilled immediately with the exterior of his stronger foot into the close post, Salah's eighth score of the national team's qualification run came from an almost identical position to his big mistake in the Chelsea match before the international break.

Had that shot with his right been converted moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be eulogising the new signing's maiden excellent pass in the league. Analyses into Salah's drop and Liverpool's rare defeat streak might also have been avoided. Instead, Wirtz's search continues while Slot stews over a third away defeat, two caused by late goals and one the result of a controversial spot-kick. Fine lines, as Slot reiterated on Friday, but they cannot hide larger problems.

Previous Campaign's Impact

Salah was key in propelling the side towards a record-equalling 20th championship the prior campaign while doubt over his future persisted in the background. “We brought nearly the best out of Mo last term,” said Slot when his main attacker signed a fresh deal in April. We have seen a noticeable drop-off on an personal and team level from then. The team, not the terms of a deal, are to blame.

Performance Decrease

His contribution in terms of goals and setups is down 50% on the corresponding point last season, from a combined 8 in the first seven matches of last season to 4 (two goals and a couple of assists) this season. His number of attempts has decreased from twenty-two to 12 while shots on target have dropped from fifteen to 5, causing a significant drop in conversion rate (excluding blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, data show.

A single trait that has held more steady is his chance creation. With 12 opportunities made, versus 14 at the comparable period of last campaign, his stats remain among the best in the continent and up in the group of young talents and Arda Güler, his juniors by fifteen and thirteen years respectively.

Team Display

Indicators of collective display will trouble Slot more. Salah had seventy-six touches in the opposition box in the opening seven fixtures of the previous term. The current campaign's total is thirty-nine. The stats are indicative of the squad's problems overall. Only United and the Gunners have tried more shots on goal than Liverpool in the current term, but the team's proportion of attempts from within the six-yard area is the lowest in the Premier League, their ratio from distance among the highest. The club's percentage of efforts on goal – 28.4 percent – is as well among the lowest in the competition.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we mostly scored from a moment of magic from one of our front three and in the later stage it was mostly from a set piece,” Slot said. “This season we lack as numerous sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are nonetheless the team that from live action creates the highest xG chances.”

Summer Arrivals

They are not hurting foes in the fashion Slot envisaged when Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were acquired this summer, while Liverpool remain the league's equal third-top scorers. A tie on the weekend would be sufficient for Slot to achieve the century of points in fewer games than any manager in the club's history (46). Imagine what his offense will do when it does settle. The side remain a squad of outstanding individual quality, able to igniting and catching any rival for the title, but unity is absent. This cannot be attributed on the recent arrivals alone.

Personal and Collective Issues

Salah is not the only key member to suffer a dip, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to form and the defender struggling. But he finds himself at the center of the upheaval that has recently affected Liverpool. This goes to a individual level, with Salah's sadness over the passing of Diogo Jota obvious on that emotional season opener against the Cherries. The effect of Jota's tragedy can neither be measured nor overlooked.

Strategic Adjustments

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