It is fair to say that Mohamed Salah has not had the best of starts to the Premier League season.
The Egyptian has three goals and three assists to his name in nine appearances for the Reds so far this season, which is not bad in nine matches, but not at the extraordinary levels we have come to expect from Liverpool's main man.
The Reds face fierce rivals Manchester United at Anfield in the big clash of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, going into the game off the back of three straight defeats - two in the Premier League against Chelsea and Crystal Palace and one in the Champions League against Galatasaray.
Back at home, manager Arne Slot will be looking for a response from his side, however. By the time they take to the pitch against United, Liverpool could be four points adrift of rivals Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.
The Gunners play on Saturday evening, away at Fulham, looking to open up the gap at the summit and cement their place as title contenders this early on in the campaign.
Even when Liverpool were winning at the start of the season it was far from comfortable, with late goals needed in games against Bournemouth, Newcastle, Arsenal and Burnley to secure all three points.
Salah targeted
Marc Cucurella in action for Chelsea
Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella admitted after their win over the Reds at Stamford Bridge that the Blues had 'targeted' Salah in the late stages of the clash. He said: "We know that Salah is always ready for the counter-attack so we practiced that and the manager said that the space might be there [on the right side of Liverpool]."
Slot defended Salah in his press conference on Friday ahead of the game with United, saying: "I could show you five or six moments where Mo could have made the difference for us. And if that [had] happened, we would have had the conversation like last season where he so many times made the difference for us."
Chiesa chance
federico chiesa
Slot will be hoping Salah can be the difference-maker on Sunday, but he has dropped a small hint that the Egyptian could have his minutes shortened in the game with Ruben Amorim's side. That is because he has hinted that Federico Chiesa deserves more game time.
Slot added: "I think maybe this time and because of the last few games he shows that he deserves a little bit more playing time and you could maybe see this in a bigger way on Sunday."
Chiesa could play through the middle for Liverpool, but Slot has Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak to choose from there. He could also play off the left, but his best position is coming from the right, where Salah plays.
Salah is Liverpool's go-to man and there is almost no chance that he will be dropped for one of the biggest games of the season. It is more likely that Slot will give Chiesa some more time off the bench and change things up in the frontline during the second half, than dropping Salah completely.