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It's been a while, but Liverpool's forward reappeared playing the lead part recently with a brace in Casablanca that secured Egypt's position at the upcoming World Cup. The star claiming the spotlight once more. The Merseyside club require him to remain there.

Causes for Unsteady Displays

We see numerous factors why unsteady, unconvincing performances have been the frequent pattern running through the team's beginning to their league defense, whether they recorded seven wins in a row or, prior to the Red Devils' trip to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three losses in a row. The disruption from multiple summer changes, Arne Slot's hunt for his best XI, Diogo Jota's passing; Salah has experienced the effect of them all during his atypically low-key beginning to the term.

Sunday's Big Match

Sunday's big match could provide the catalyst for the cause of a record 16 strikes in 17 games for Liverpool against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th visit to the stadium and have not won at their archrivals for over nine years. The attacker will pose the manager with another unexpected problem, though, should he stay caught in the turmoil indefinitely.

Latest Form

The team's head coach likely recognized the irony of Salah's opening strike against the opponent recently. Struck first time with the outside of his left foot inside the close post, Salah's eighth goal of the national team's World Cup qualifying campaign was from an almost identical location to his costly miss in the Chelsea match prior to the break for internationals.

Had that shot with his right been converted moments after the resumption at Chelsea's ground we would still be eulogising Florian Wirtz's first superb setup in the league. Analyses into Salah's drop and Liverpool's unusual losing run might as well have been postponed. Rather, the midfielder's search persists while the coach stews over a third consecutive away defeat, a couple caused by last-minute winners and another the outcome of a disputed penalty. Fine lines, as he repeated on Friday, but they do not mask bigger issues.

Last Season's Influence

The forward was key in propelling Liverpool towards a record-equalling 20th crown the previous term while speculation over his future persisted in the backdrop. “We brought nearly the maximum out of Salah that campaign,” said the manager when his main attacker signed a fresh deal in April. We have seen a clear decline on an personal and team level since. The team, not the terms of a contract, are responsible.

Performance Decrease

His output in terms of goals and assists is reduced half on the same stage last season, from a total eight in the opening seven league games of last season to 4 (two goals and a couple of assists) this term. His number of shots has fallen from 22 to 12 while accurate shots have fallen from 15 to five, causing a sharp fall in shot accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6%, data show.

A single trait that has held more steady is his playmaking. With 12 key passes, compared with fourteen at the same stage of last term, his figures are among the top in Europe and comparable in the group of Lamine Yamal and rising stars, his younger counterparts by 15 and 13 years each.

Team Performance

Measures of collective display will trouble Slot more. He had seventy-six touches in the enemy box in the initial seven matches of the prior campaign. This season's tally is thirty-nine. The stats are indicative of the squad's issues overall. Just United and Arsenal have tried a greater number of attempts on goal than them in the current term, but the team's proportion of attempts from within the six-yard box is the smallest in the division, their share from outside the area among the highest. Liverpool's proportion of shots on target – 28.4 percent – is as well among the weakest in the league.

During the initial phase of the previous campaign we primarily found the net from a special moment from one of our front three and in the later stage it was more from a set piece,” the manager said. “This season we haven’t had as many moments of genius and we have not found the net from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the side that from open play produces the highest xG chances.”

Recent Additions

They aren't punishing opponents in the fashion the coach imagined when Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were brought on board in the offseason, while the team are the division's joint third-highest scorers. A tie on Sunday would be sufficient for him to attain the century of points in less games than any manager in Liverpool's past (forty-six). Think what his attack will do when it does settle. Liverpool are still a squad of supreme skill, able to sparking and reeling in any rival for the championship, but cohesion is absent. This cannot be blamed on the recent arrivals by themselves.

Individual and Collective Issues

Salah is not the only established member to suffer a dip, with the midfielder working his way back to match sharpness and the defender laboring. But he ends up at the center of the disruption that has recently engulfed the club. That applies to a personal level, with Salah's grief over the loss of Jota obvious on that heartfelt season opener against the Cherries. The influence of Jota's death can neither be assessed nor dismissed.

Strategic Shifts

Last season, he