Coach Arne Slot's team has repeatedly enjoyed joy with the decisive goals in the last minute of this season. However, for two consecutive weeks, they suffered 1-2 defeats and were all decided by the goal in extra time.
Mohamed Salah had a forgettable evening when he had to leave the pitch in defeat to his former team Chelsea, after missing two clear scoring opportunities. That was part of the Egyptian striker's unimpressive start to the season.
Salah has scored twice in five Premier League wins for the Reds this season, both in the second half. That included the decisive penalty goal against Burnley.
The 33-year-old star still showed his class with a beautiful goal against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, but that was just a rare moment he showed his familiar talent in the 2025-2026 season.
It is hard to believe that Salah is only fourth in the 2025 Ballon d'Or election, despite last season contributing to 57 goals in all competitions (34 goals, 23 assists) - the most of any player from Europe's top five leagues. But that result partly reflects the short-term decline he is going through.
Overall, Liverpool's performance this season has not been really convincing, despite having won 7 consecutive matches - from the opening victory against Bournemouth to the Carabao Cup victory against Southampton. The question is will the result or performance change first? And unfortunately for The Kop, that was answered when they lost 3 matches in just 8 days, against Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea.
Salah has not scored in any match (though he only came off the bench in Istanbul), but the more worrying thing is that his scoring opportunities have become increasingly rare, especially in the first two defeats.
At Stamford Bridge, Salah had two clear chances, but instead of taking advantage, he showed the image of a player who was losing his confidence and his inherent form.
The Egyptian star has always been the focus of scrutiny, especially after signing a new contract with a huge salary last season, lasting 2 more years at Anfield. Liverpool's goal is to keep Salah, while adding talents like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak to maintain the dominance. However, despite still being second in the Premier League table, just 1 point behind Arsenal, the current situation is not optimistic.
In recent years, the "Red Brigade" has always known how to get the ball into dangerous areas for Salah to maximize his ability, but that does not seem to be true this season.
Last season, he averaged 48.6 touches per 90 minutes, now just 42.6. Since joining Liverpool, Salah has never averaged less than 48.1 touches per 90 minutes throughout the season. More worryingly, Salah's touchdown in the opposition box has dropped from 9.6 to just 5.5 - the lowest since he joined Anfield.
Whether it's age or the opponent's cards, Salah is currently playing much less. Last season, he made 3.5 dribbles/90 minutes (39.3% success rate), while this season there are only 1.6 times/90 minutes, a success rate of only 20%. In the Premier League, he has only passed one of his 11 attempts (9.1%), compared to 58/137 last season (42.3%).
Of course, this is just a small statistic - 10 games compared to last season's 52 - but most of Salah's stats are down. He only had an average of 2 shots/90 minutes, down sharply from 3.4 last season, and has never been below 3.3 shots/90 minutes for Liverpool.
Salah's expected goals (xG) also fell sharply, reaching only 0.32 per 90 minutes, nearly half of the 2024-2025 0.63. Previously, his lowest tally in a full season at Liverpool was still 0.55 xG/90 minutes.
