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It has been some time, but Mohamed Salah returned playing the lead part last week with a brace in Casablanca that confirmed Egypt's position at the global tournament. The key player taking the spotlight another time. The Reds need him to stay there.

Reasons for Variable Displays

We see many reasons why unsteady, lackluster performances have been the recurring theme defining Liverpool's opening to their championship defense, if they recorded seven straight victories or, before Manchester United's trip to Anfield on the weekend, three losses in a row. The disruption from so many offseason moves, Arne Slot's search for his best XI, Diogo Jota's tragic death; Salah has felt the impact of them all during his atypically subdued beginning to the season.

Sunday's Key Fixture

Sunday's showpiece occasion could provide the impetus for the source of a record 16 goals in 17 appearances for the club against United, who are paying their centenary trip to the stadium and have not triumphed at their biggest foes for more than nine years. Salah will create Slot with a further unexpected problem, however, should he stay lost in the upheaval much longer.

Current Performance

The team's head coach must have noticed the irony of the player's opening strike against Djibouti recently. Drilled directly with the exterior of his stronger foot into the near post, his eighth score of the national team's qualifying effort was from an nearly the same spot to his expensive error in the Chelsea match before the international break.

Had that shot with his right been finished shortly after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would still be praising Florian Wirtz's maiden excellent pass in the Premier League. Discussions into Salah's decline and the team's unusual defeat streak might also have been postponed. Instead, Wirtz's search persists while Slot stews over a third consecutive loss on the road, a couple caused by dying-minute strikes and another the result of a controversial spot-kick. Small margins, as Slot emphasized on Friday, but they cannot hide underlying concerns.

Previous Campaign's Influence

Salah was crucial in driving Liverpool towards a tying 20th league title the prior campaign while speculation over his long-term plans persisted in the background. We achieved almost the utmost out of Salah last term,” said the manager when his main attacker signed a fresh deal in April. There has been a clear decline on an individual and collective level from then. The team, not the terms of a deal, are accountable.

Performance Decline

His production in terms of goals and setups is lower 50% on the corresponding point the previous term, from a total eight in the first seven matches of last season to four (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. His tally of shots has fallen from twenty-two to 12 while shots on target have dropped from 15 to 5, contributing to a steep fall in shot accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, figures show.

One attribute that has held more steady is Salah's chance creation. With twelve opportunities made, compared with 14 at the comparable period of last campaign, his numbers remain among the top in the continent and up in the group of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and thirteen years each.

Team Display

Metrics of collective performance will concern the coach further. Salah had 76 touches in the opposition penalty area in the first seven matches of last season. This season's tally is 39. The numbers are indicative of the team's issues in general. Just Manchester United and Arsenal have attempted more shots on goal than Liverpool this season, but Liverpool's percentage of shots from within the goal area is the poorest in the Premier League, their share from long range among the top. Liverpool's percentage of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is as well among the poorest in the competition.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we mainly found the net from an individual brilliance from an attacker and in the second half it was more from a dead ball,” Slot said. “Currently we have not seen as many acts of brilliance and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the side that from live action generates the most xG chances.”

Recent Additions

They aren't hurting opponents in the manner the coach planned when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were brought on board in the offseason, although the team stay the division's third-best goalscorers. A draw on the weekend would be enough for Slot to reach the 100-point mark in fewer games than any boss in Liverpool's past (forty-six). Consider what his offense will do when it finally gels. Liverpool are still a squad of supreme individual quality, capable of sparking and chasing any rival for the championship, but synergy is lacking. That cannot be pinned on the recent arrivals by themselves.

Individual and Team Problems

Salah is not the sole key member to suffer a dip, with Alexis Mac Allister regaining to form and Ibrahima Konaté laboring. But he ends up at the center of the upheaval that has of late engulfed the club. This goes to a personal level, with Salah's grief over the death of Diogo Jota clear on that poignant opening night against Bournemouth. The effect of his loss can neither be quantified nor dismissed.

Strategic Adjustments

Previously, he