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How worried should Liverpool be by Mohamed Salah’s subdued start to the season?

There was a point last season when Mohamed Salah looked to be putting together the most incredible individual campaign in Premier League history. By February, the Egyptian had scored 25 goals and assisted 17 more as Liverpool surged to the title in Arne Slot’s first season as manager.

 

Salah faded towards the end of the 2024/25 season, but still finished with 29 goals and 18 assists. Few gave much thought to his drop-off, especially with Liverpool comfortably clear at the top of the table two months before the end of the season. Salah, and some of his teammates, allowed the competitive tension in their performances to dip.

 

Now, though, Salah’s end to last season could be viewed as the start of a slide that has continued into this season. Seven matches into the 2025/26 campaign, the 33-year-old has been a shadow of his usual self. Liverpool have a number of other, possibly bigger issues, but Salah has been subdued.

 

It was possibly unrealistic to expect that Salah would continue his scoring rate of a goal every 116 minutes from last season. However, fans are entitled to expect Salah to pose a greater goal threat than is currently the case. He has scored just two goals in seven leagues and one of those was a penalty while the other was a stoppage time strike on the opening weekend.

 

Liverpool did more to rebuild their squad over the summer than many anticipated. They brought in Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak with the former in particular yet to strike up any sort of understanding with Salah on the right side. The pair haven’t been on the same wavelength in the games they have played together.

 

“The more they play together the more they will connect,” said Slot when asked about Isak and Salah’s partnership. “You have to work really hard to reach a certain level and then it’s very hard in football because you also play against very good teams to keep that level going. What I mean by that is consistency. But it’s clear that we had our changes in the summer. Players came in different moments.

 

“Last week there’s been hardly any training time. Still we need to try to bring these players in. If the result would have been better today with a draw or a win then we would have had a great start to the season if you take into account everything that happened in the summer in Liverpool.”

 

It might be the case that Liverpool accelerate after the October international break. Sunday’s rivalry match against Manchester United could be the catalyst for the Reds to rediscover their best form and Salah will surely be prolific once more if Liverpool are to challenge for the title this season.

 

Nonetheless, it’s worth assessing Salah’s current performance levels and discussing whether or not he is offering enough. It’s not just the Egyptian’s goal rate that has dropped. Indeed, Salah has also been criticised for his lack of work ethic in tracking back and helping out on the defensive side of things.

 

At 33, Salah is entering the twilight of his career and so what we’re seeing this season might merely be the Egyptian’s own mortality catching up with him. He might be missing Trent Alexander-Arnold as his creator-in-chief down the right wing, but Salah could also be slowing down due to his age.

 

Salah’s contract extension was a reward for all that he did last season. Liverpool did enough in the summer transfer window without also having to find a new right winger to replace one of their greatest-ever players. An uptick in Salah’s form would go a long way to revitalising Slot’s champions.