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It has been a while, but the Egyptian star reappeared playing the starring role recently with a brace in Casablanca that confirmed Egypt's place at the upcoming World Cup. The star taking center stage another time. Liverpool require him to stay there.

Causes for Inconsistent Displays

We see several reasons why unsteady, unimpressive displays have been the common thread defining Liverpool's start to their championship defense, if they recorded seven straight victories or, prior to the Red Devils' visit to Anfield on the weekend, three losses in a row. The turmoil from so many new signings, Arne Slot's hunt for his top team, the late forward's tragic death; Salah has experienced the impact of them all during his uncharacteristically quiet beginning to the term.

Sunday's Key Fixture

Sunday's showpiece occasion could offer the spark for the source of a record 16 strikes in 17 appearances for the club against United, who are making their 100th visit to the stadium and have not triumphed at their biggest foes for over nine years. The attacker will create Slot with a further unforeseen dilemma, though, if he stay caught in the disruption much longer.

Current Performance

The team's manager likely noticed the irony of the player's initial score against the opponent in midweek. Struck immediately with the outside of his left foot into the front post, Salah's eighth goal of the national team's qualification run came from an almost identical spot to his expensive error in the Chelsea match before the international break.

If that right-foot effort been scored moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be eulogising the new signing's maiden sublime pass in the Premier League. Discussions into Salah's dip and the team's unusual losing run might as well have been delayed. Instead, Wirtz's wait goes on while the coach fumes over a third defeat away, two caused by last-minute winners and one the outcome of a controversial spot-kick. Small margins, as Slot repeated on Friday, but they cannot hide larger problems.

Last Season's Impact

Salah was instrumental in pushing Liverpool towards a record-equalling 20th league title last season while uncertainty over his future rumbled in the background. “We brought almost the utmost out of Salah this season,” said the manager when his main attacker signed a fresh deal in April. There has been a noticeable decline on an personal and collective level from then. The squad, not the terms of a deal, are accountable.

Performance Decrease

The 33-year-old's production in terms of scores and setups is lower half on the corresponding point the prior campaign, from a total eight in the first seven league games of last season to 4 (a pair of goals and a couple of assists) this term. The count of attempts has decreased from 22 to twelve while efforts on goal have dropped from 15 to 5, leading to a steep fall in conversion rate (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6 percent, figures show.

One attribute that has remained consistent is his chance creation. With 12 opportunities made, versus fourteen at the equivalent point of last campaign, his numbers stay among the best in Europe and up in the company of Lamine Yamal and rising stars, his younger counterparts by 15 and 13 years each.

Team Output

Metrics of collective output will worry Slot additionally. He had seventy-six touches in the opposition penalty area in the first seven league games of last season. The current campaign's tally is 39. The numbers are indicative of the team's difficulties as a whole. Only United and Arsenal have tried a greater number of shots on goal than them this season, but Liverpool's proportion of shots from inside the six-yard box is the smallest in the division, their ratio from long range among the top. The club's rate of shots on target – 28.4 percent – is also among the weakest in the league.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we primarily found the net from a moment of magic from an attacker and in the second half it was mostly from a free-kick or corner,” Slot said. “Currently we have not seen as many sparks of quality and we have not found the net from dead balls. But we are nonetheless the side that from live action creates the highest quality opportunities.”

Recent Additions

They aren't beating rivals in the fashion Slot planned when Wirtz, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak were signed this summer, while the team are the league's equal third-top goalscorers. A tie on Sunday would be enough for Slot to attain the 100-point mark in less games than any coach in the club's history (forty-six). Think what his offense will do when it clicks. Liverpool remain a squad of supreme skill, able to starting and chasing any foe for the championship, but cohesion is lacking. This cannot be blamed on the summer recruits only.

Individual and Collective Issues

The player is not the sole established player to experience a dip, with the midfielder returning to fitness and the defender toiling. But he finds himself at the center of the turmoil that has lately engulfed the club. That goes to a individual level, with his sadness over the death of Diogo Jota clear on that heartfelt season opener against the Cherries. The impact of Jota's loss can not be assessed nor ignored.

Strategic Shifts

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