🔗 Share this article

It's been some time, but Mohamed Salah was back assuming the lead part last week with two goals in Casablanca that sealed the Egyptian team's position at the upcoming World Cup. The star taking center stage once more. The Merseyside club must have him to stay there.

Factors for Variable Showings

We see numerous causes why unsteady, lackluster showings have been the frequent pattern defining Liverpool's start to their championship defense, if they produced a winning streak or, prior to Manchester United's trip to Anfield on the weekend, three losses in a row. The upheaval from so many new signings, the coach's quest for his best XI, the late forward's loss; the winger has experienced the consequences of them all during his uncharacteristically low-key opening to the term.

The Weekend's Big Match

The weekend's showpiece occasion could offer the catalyst for the source of a record 16 goals in 17 outings for the club against United, who are paying their 100th appearance to the stadium and have not succeeded at their fierce rivals for over nine years. The attacker will create Slot with another unforeseen dilemma, though, should he continue lost in the disruption indefinitely.

Current Form

The team's manager likely noticed the paradox of the player's opening strike against the opponent in midweek. Struck first time with the outside of his left foot into the near post, his eighth goal of Egypt's World Cup qualifying campaign came from an very similar position to his big mistake in the Chelsea match prior to the international break.

Had that shot with his right been scored moments after the restart at Stamford Bridge we would even now be eulogising the new signing's first excellent assist in the English top flight. Discussions into Salah's decline and the team's unusual defeat streak might as well have been delayed. Rather, Wirtz's wait persists while the coach stews over a third defeat away, two caused by last-minute winners and one the result of a controversial spot-kick. Small margins, as he emphasized on Friday, but they do not mask bigger issues.

Last Season's Impact

Salah was key in pushing Liverpool towards a tying 20th championship last season while uncertainty over his career lingered in the backdrop. We extracted nearly the utmost out of Mo that campaign,” said the manager when his main attacker signed an extension in April. We have seen a clear decline on an individual and collective level from then. The lineup, not the terms of a contract, are accountable.

Statistical Decline

The 33-year-old's production in terms of scores and assists is lower half on the corresponding stage last season, from a combined eight in the initial seven matches of 2024-25 to four (a pair of goals and two assists) this season. His number of shots has fallen from twenty-two to 12 while efforts on goal have dropped from fifteen to five, causing a significant drop in shooting accuracy (excluding blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, data show.

A single trait that has remained consistent is his creativity. With twelve key passes, versus 14 at the same stage of last campaign, his figures remain among the best in Europe and comparable in the company of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and 13 years each.

Collective Display

Metrics of collective performance will trouble the coach further. He had seventy-six touches in the opposition box in the first seven fixtures of the previous term. This season's total is 39. The numbers are symptomatic of the team's issues as a whole. Only United and Arsenal have attempted more attempts on goal than them in the current term, but the team's percentage of attempts from within the six-yard box is the poorest in the division, their ratio from distance among the greatest. Liverpool's percentage of efforts on goal – 28.4% – is also among the poorest in the competition.

During the initial phase of last season we mostly scored from an individual brilliance from one of our front three and in the second half it was more from a dead ball,” Slot said. “Now we lack as many moments of genius and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are still the team that from live action produces the highest quality opportunities.”

New Signings

They are not beating rivals in the manner the coach imagined when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were signed this summer, though the team remain the division's third-best goalscorers. A draw on the weekend would be sufficient for him to reach the 100-point mark in fewer games than any manager in Liverpool's past (forty-six). Consider what his attack will do when it does settle. Liverpool are still a squad of outstanding individual quality, capable of starting and catching any rival for the title, but synergy is absent. That can not be blamed on the recent arrivals only.

Individual and Team Issues

Salah is not the only established member to suffer a dip, with the midfielder working his way back to fitness and Ibrahima Konaté toiling. But he finds himself at the core of the upheaval that has recently engulfed the club. That applies to a individual level, with his sorrow over the passing of Jota obvious on that poignant season opener against Bournemouth. The influence of his loss can not be measured nor overlooked.

Tactical Changes

Last season, he