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It's been a while, but the Egyptian star was back taking on the lead part last week with a double in Casablanca that sealed the Egyptian team's place at the global tournament. The key player taking the spotlight once more. The Reds require him to stay there.

Causes for Variable Displays

There are many reasons why inconsistent, unconvincing performances have been the common thread defining Liverpool's opening to their league defense, if they produced a winning streak or, before the Red Devils' trip to Liverpool's home ground on Sunday, three consecutive defeats. The disruption from multiple new signings, the coach's hunt for his top team, the late forward's loss; Salah has felt the impact of them all during his uncharacteristically quiet beginning to the campaign.

Sunday's Big Match

Sunday's big match could deliver the impetus for the cause of a impressive 16 strikes in 17 games for the club against United, who are paying their 100th appearance to Anfield and have not succeeded at their archrivals for almost a decade. Salah will pose the manager with another unexpected problem, however, should he continue lost in the disruption for an extended period.

Recent Display

Liverpool's head coach likely seen the contrast of the player's opening strike against Djibouti last Wednesday. Swept immediately with the exterior of his left foot inside the close post, his eighth score of Egypt's World Cup qualifying campaign was from an nearly the same position to his costly miss in the Chelsea match before the national team pause.

If that shot with his right been converted moments after the restart at Chelsea's ground we would even now be celebrating the new signing's maiden superb pass in the league. Discussions into Salah's dip and the team's infrequent losing streak might as well have been delayed. Rather, Wirtz's search persists while the coach fumes over a third consecutive defeat away, two due to last-minute winners and another the result of a debatable penalty. Fine lines, as he reiterated on Friday, but they do not mask larger problems.

Previous Campaign's Contribution

Salah was key in driving the side towards a tying 20th crown the previous term while uncertainty over his career persisted in the background. We extracted nearly the maximum out of Salah that campaign,” said Slot when his leading striker signed a new two‑year contract in April. We have seen a noticeable decline on an individual and collective level from then. The squad, not the details of a contract, are to blame.

Performance Decline

The 33-year-old's production in terms of goals and setups is reduced 50% on the same stage last season, from a combined 8 in the first seven fixtures of last season to 4 (two goals and a couple of assists) the current campaign. The count of attempts has decreased from 22 to twelve while accurate shots have fallen from 15 to 5, causing a significant fall in shot accuracy (not counting blocks) from 78.9% to 55.6%, data show.

One attribute that has stayed stable is his playmaking. With twelve key passes, against 14 at the same stage of the previous season, his numbers remain among the best in Europe and comparable in the company of young talents and Arda Güler, his younger counterparts by fifteen and thirteen years each.

Team Performance

Indicators of team display will trouble Slot more. He had 76 touches in the opposition box in the first seven fixtures of the previous term. This term's total is thirty-nine. The numbers are indicative of the squad's difficulties as a whole. Only United and Arsenal have attempted more attempts on goal than them in the current term, but Liverpool's proportion of attempts from within the six-yard area is the smallest in the division, their share from outside the area among the highest. Liverpool's rate of accurate shots – 28.4% – is also among the lowest in the league.

“In the first half of the previous campaign we primarily found the net from an individual brilliance from a forward and in the second half it was more from a free-kick or corner,” Slot said. “Currently we haven’t had as numerous moments of genius and we haven’t scored from set pieces. But we are nonetheless the team that from live action produces the highest quality opportunities.”

Recent Additions

They aren't punishing foes in the manner Slot envisaged when Florian Wirtz, the French forward and Alexander Isak were brought on board this summer, though Liverpool are the league's third-best scorers. A tie on Sunday would be enough for him to achieve the 100-point total in fewer games than any manager in the club's history (forty-six). Think what his attack will do when it does settle. The side are still a team of supreme individual quality, able to sparking and catching any rival for the title, but synergy is missing. That can not be pinned on the summer recruits alone.

Personal and Team Challenges

Salah is not the sole key member to experience a dip, with the midfielder regaining to match sharpness and Ibrahima Konaté toiling. But he ends up at the heart of the upheaval that has recently enveloped the club. That extends to a individual level, with his grief over the death of Diogo Jota clear on that poignant first game against Bournemouth. The influence of Jota's death can not be measured nor dismissed.

Tactical Shifts

Last season, he