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It has been a while, but the Egyptian star returned assuming the main part recently with a brace in Casablanca that sealed Egypt's spot at the upcoming World Cup. The main man claiming the spotlight another time. The Merseyside club need him to keep that position.

Factors for Unsteady Showings

There are several factors why unsteady, unconvincing showings have been the frequent pattern defining Liverpool's start to their league defense, if they achieved a winning streak or, prior to the Red Devils' trip to Anfield on the weekend, three losses in a row. The turmoil from multiple summer changes, Arne Slot's quest for his top team, Diogo Jota's passing; Salah has felt the effect of them all during his atypically quiet beginning to the season.

Sunday's Showpiece Occasion

Sunday's key fixture could provide the catalyst for the cause of a record 16 goals in 17 outings for the club against Manchester United, who are paying their 100th visit to Anfield and have not succeeded at their archrivals for more than nine years. Salah will pose Slot with another unforeseen dilemma, however, if he stay lost in the upheaval for an extended period.

Recent Form

The team's boss likely recognized the paradox of Salah's initial score against Djibouti recently. Swept immediately with the exterior of his stronger foot inside the front post, his eighth score of the national team's qualification run came from an almost identical location to his costly miss versus Chelsea before the break for internationals.

If 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 sublime pass in the league. Discussions into his drop and the team's rare losing streak might as well have been delayed. Instead, the midfielder's search continues while the coach broods over a third away defeat, two inflicted by dying-minute strikes and another the result of a controversial spot-kick. Fine lines, as he reiterated on Friday, but they do not mask bigger issues.

Previous Campaign's Influence

The forward was instrumental in driving the side towards a historic 20th championship the previous term while doubt over his future persisted in the background. “We brought almost the best out of Salah last term,” said Slot when his main attacker signed a new two‑year contract in April. We have seen a noticeable decline on an individual and collective level since. The team, not the details of a deal, are responsible.

Statistical Decline

His production in terms of scores and setups is reduced half on the same stage the previous term, from a combined 8 in the initial seven league games of last season to four (two goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. The count of attempts has fallen from 22 to 12 while accurate shots have dropped from fifteen to five, causing a significant drop in shot accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9 percent to 55.6 percent, statistics show.

One attribute that has remained consistent is Salah's chance creation. With 12 opportunities made, against fourteen at the comparable period of last campaign, his stats stay among the best in Europe and up in the ranks of young talents and rising stars, his juniors by 15 and thirteen years each.

Team Output

Indicators of collective performance will trouble Slot more. He had 76 contacts in the enemy penalty area in the initial seven fixtures of the prior campaign. This term's count is 39. The stats are indicative of the team's difficulties in general. Only United and Arsenal have taken more shots on goal than Liverpool this season, but the team's rate of shots from within the six-yard area is the smallest in the Premier League, their percentage from outside the area among the highest. The club's rate of efforts on goal – 28.4 percent – is also among the poorest in the competition.

“In the first half of last season we mostly scored from an individual brilliance from a forward and in the later stage it was mostly from a dead ball,” Slot said. “Now we haven’t had as numerous sparks of quality and we haven’t scored from dead balls. But we are still the side that from open play generates the highest quality opportunities.”

Recent Additions

They are not hurting opponents in the manner the coach planned when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and the Swedish striker were signed recently, although the team are the division's equal third-top scorers. A draw on Sunday would be sufficient for Slot to reach the 100-point total in fewer games than any boss in the club's past (46). Consider what his forward line will do when it clicks. Liverpool are still a team of outstanding individual quality, equipped to sparking and chasing any foe for the title, but synergy is absent. That cannot be blamed on the summer recruits by themselves.

Individual and Collective Challenges

The player is not the sole senior player to suffer a dip, with the midfielder returning to form and Ibrahima Konaté struggling. But he is at the core of the disruption that has of late engulfed the club. That goes to a individual level, with Salah's sadness over the passing of Diogo Jota evident on that poignant first game against the Cherries. The influence of his death can not be quantified nor overlooked.

Strategic Adjustments

In the prior campaign, he