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It has been some time, but Mohamed Salah returned assuming the starring role recently with a double in Casablanca that secured Egypt's position at the global tournament. The main man stepping on the spotlight once more. Liverpool require him to remain there.

Factors for Inconsistent Showings

We see many factors why unsteady, unconvincing displays have been the common thread running through the team's start to their title defence, if they achieved seven wins in a row or, before Manchester United's arrival to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three losses in a row. The turmoil from numerous new signings, the coach's quest for his best XI, Diogo Jota's tragic death; Salah has felt the effect of them all during his unusually low-key opening to the term.

Sunday's Key Fixture

Sunday's showpiece occasion could provide the impetus for the source of a impressive 16 strikes in 17 games for the club against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th appearance to the stadium and have not won at their fierce rivals for almost a decade. Salah will create Slot with a further unexpected problem, however, if he continue caught in the turmoil indefinitely.

Current Display

The team's boss likely noticed the contrast of Salah's first goal against the opponent last Wednesday. Swept immediately with the exterior of his stronger foot inside the near post, his eighth strike of the national team's qualification run came from an almost identical position to his big mistake in the Chelsea match before the break for internationals.

Had that shot with his right been converted shortly after the resumption at Chelsea's ground we would even now be celebrating Florian Wirtz's first superb pass in the English top flight. Inquests into Salah's drop and Liverpool's unusual losing run might as well have been postponed. Rather, Wirtz's wait persists while the coach broods over a third consecutive defeat away, two caused by late goals and one the outcome of a debatable penalty. Narrow differences, as Slot reiterated on recently, but they cannot hide larger problems.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

The forward was key in driving Liverpool towards a tying 20th championship last season while uncertainty over his career rumbled in the backdrop. “We brought nearly the maximum out of Salah that campaign,” said Slot when his leading striker signed an extension in April. We have seen a obvious decline on an individual and team level since. The lineup, not the details of a contract, are to blame.

Performance Decline

His contribution in terms of scores and assists is down half on the same point the previous term, from a combined eight in the first seven matches of last season to 4 (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this season. His number of attempts has fallen from twenty-two to 12 while efforts on goal have dropped from 15 to five, causing a sharp decline in conversion rate (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6%, data show.

One attribute that has held more steady is Salah's creativity. With 12 key passes, compared with 14 at the equivalent point of last campaign, his figures remain among the top in the continent and comparable in the ranks of Lamine Yamal and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and thirteen years respectively.

Collective Performance

Indicators of collective performance will trouble the coach additionally. Salah had seventy-six contacts in the opposition box in the initial seven league games of the previous term. This term's total is 39. The stats are reflective of the squad's issues in general. Just Manchester United and the Gunners have taken more attempts on goal than them in the current term, but Liverpool's proportion of shots from inside the six-yard area is the poorest in the division, their share from outside the area among the top. Liverpool's rate of shots on target – 28.4% – is also among the lowest in the competition.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we primarily found the net from an individual brilliance from an attacker and in the later stage it was more from a dead ball,” the manager said. “Now we lack as many acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are still the side that from live action creates the most quality opportunities.”

Summer Arrivals

They aren't beating opponents in the fashion the coach envisaged when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were signed this summer, though the team are the league's equal third-top scorers. A draw on Sunday would be enough for him to achieve the century of points in fewer games than any manager in the club's history (46). Consider what his offense will do when it does settle. The side remain a team of outstanding individual quality, equipped to sparking and catching any opponent for the championship, but synergy is lacking. This cannot be blamed on the recent arrivals by themselves.

Individual and Collective Challenges

Salah is not the only established player to experience a decline, with Alexis Mac Allister returning to form and Ibrahima Konaté toiling. But he finds himself at the heart of the upheaval that has of late affected Liverpool. That goes to a individual level, with Salah's sorrow over the loss of Jota evident on that heartfelt first game against the Cherries. The influence of his death can not be quantified nor overlooked.

Tactical Changes

Previously, he