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It has been a period, but Liverpool's forward was back playing the starring role in recent days with a brace in Casablanca that confirmed Egypt's place at the global tournament. The star stepping on the limelight yet again. The Reds need him to stay there.

Factors for Unsteady Performances

There exist many reasons why unsteady, unconvincing displays have been the common thread defining Liverpool's beginning to their title defence, whether they achieved seven wins in a row or, prior to Manchester United's arrival to Anfield on Sunday, a losing run. The turmoil from multiple new signings, the coach's hunt for his ideal lineup, the late forward's loss; Salah has experienced the impact of them all during his uncharacteristically quiet start to the season.

Sunday's Showpiece Occasion

Sunday's key fixture could offer the spark for the source of a impressive 16 strikes in 17 games for the club against Manchester United, who are making their centenary trip to Anfield and have not triumphed at their biggest foes for over nine years. The attacker will present Slot with an additional unforeseen dilemma, however, if he remain lost in the disruption indefinitely.

Latest Display

Liverpool's head coach must have noticed the paradox of the player's opening strike against Djibouti in midweek. Drilled directly with the outside of his left foot inside the near post, Salah's eighth strike of Egypt's World Cup qualifying campaign originated from an very similar position to his costly miss versus Chelsea prior to the national team pause.

If that shot with his right been scored shortly after the resumption at Chelsea's ground we would even now be praising Florian Wirtz's first superb setup in the league. Analyses into Salah's drop and the team's rare losing run might also have been avoided. Instead, Wirtz's wait continues while Slot fumes over a third defeat away, two due to last-minute winners and one the outcome of a debatable penalty. Narrow differences, as Slot repeated on Friday, but they do not camouflage underlying concerns.

Last Season's Contribution

Salah was instrumental in pushing Liverpool towards a record-equalling 20th league title the previous term while doubt over his future lingered in the backdrop. We achieved nearly the utmost out of Salah that campaign,” said the manager when his top scorer signed an extension in April. We have seen a obvious drop-off on an individual and team level from then. The lineup, not the terms of a contract, are accountable.

Performance Drop

His contribution in terms of goals and setups is down half on the same stage the previous term, from a combined 8 in the opening seven matches of last season to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this term. The count of attempts has fallen from twenty-two to 12 while shots on target have declined from 15 to five, leading to a steep decline in conversion rate (excluding blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, statistics show.

One attribute that has held more steady is his playmaking. With 12 key passes, against fourteen at the equivalent point of last campaign, his numbers are among the finest in the continent and comparable in the group of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by 15 and thirteen years each.

Collective Output

Measures of team output will trouble Slot more. He had seventy-six contacts in the enemy box in the opening seven matches of last season. The current campaign's total is thirty-nine. These figures are symptomatic of the squad's problems overall. Only United and the Gunners have attempted a greater number of shots on goal than them now, but the team's rate of attempts from within the goal area is the smallest in the Premier League, their ratio from outside the area among the highest. The club's rate of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the poorest in the league.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we mainly scored from an individual brilliance from a forward and in the later stage it was more from a set piece,” Slot said. “Currently we haven’t had as many acts of brilliance and we have not found the net from dead balls. But we are still the team that from live action generates the most expected goals opportunities.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't beating rivals in the way the coach planned when Wirtz, the French forward and the Swedish striker were brought on board recently, though the team stay the division's equal third-top scorers. A draw on Sunday would be enough for Slot to achieve the century of points in less games than any coach in the club's history (46). Think what his offense will do when it finally gels. Liverpool remain a squad of supreme individual quality, able to sparking and catching any foe for the title, but unity is missing. That cannot be attributed on the recent arrivals only.

Personal and Collective Issues

The player is not the sole senior player to experience a dip, with the midfielder working his way back to form and the defender struggling. But he finds himself at the heart of the turmoil that has recently affected the club. This applies to a personal level, with Salah's grief over the passing of Jota evident on that emotional season opener against Bournemouth. The effect of Jota's loss can not be quantified nor overlooked.

Strategic Changes

In the prior campaign, he