In modern football, there are only a handful of players who have impacted an era at a club the way Mohamed Salah did at Liverpool.
Over the past decade, Salah has become a Liverpool icon and one of the greatest Premier League players of all time.
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But the Egyptian is in danger of falling short of double figures for the first time in his Merseyside career.
In 431 games for Liverpool, Salah scored 252 goals and 121 assists.
These figures place him third on Liverpool’s all-time goalscoring list and set a record for the most goals for a single club in Premier League history.
But even the most reliable stars go through difficult times, so LiverpoolFCNews looks at the potential reasons behind Salah’s difficult 2025/26 season.
Does Slott know something we don’t?
Salah scored his fifth Premier League goal of the season in 21 games as Liverpool were beaten 2-1 by Wolves at Molineux.
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The Egyptian had gone 10 consecutive Premier League games without scoring before the equalizer in the 83rd minute.
Interestingly, Liverpool manager Arne Slott has predicted Salah’s decline since the Egyptian led the Reds to their second Premier League title last season with 29 league goals.
The performance earned Salah the Golden Boot and a two-year contract extension.
However, Slott seems convinced that the Liverpool talisman will not hit those figures again for the remainder of his contract.
Asked about the standards set by Salah, Slott said: “Yes, he may not be able to live up to it in the next two seasons. I hope he does, but that’s not even necessary.”
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While Slott was correct in predicting Salah’s eventual decline, he may not have anticipated such a steep decline in Salah’s performance in the 2025/26 season.
Salah’s marginal decline in fitness does not explain shocking decline
One of the most common explanations for Salah’s decline in form is a decline in fitness.
Questions have been raised about how much longer Salah can perform at the highest level. But last season’s heroics silenced the doubters and convinced Liverpool to give their club legend another two years.
Jamie Carragher and others have claimed that age may eventually slow down the Egypt striker.
But to be fair, Salah’s numbers suggest his decline in fitness has been grossly exaggerated.
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Last season, Salah averaged about 15.1 sprints per game in the league. This season, ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), that number is just slightly lower at 14.8.
The difference isn’t enough to indicate a significant drop in Salah’s energy or effort.
Salah averaged 9.3 kilometers per game in the league last season. This season, before the Africa Cup of Nations break, his average running distance had actually increased to about 9.7 kilometers.
If anything, these numbers suggest he’s working just as hard – if not harder – than he did during Liverpool’s title-winning run.
How Arne Slott’s tactical tweaks affect Salah’s output
After dispelling the idea of Salah not trying hard, Slott’s tactical adjustments may be a more reasonable explanation for his defeat.
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Slott proved last season that he can still get the most out of Salah. The Egyptian contributed 47 goals, meaning he was involved in 54.7% of the club’s 86 Premier League goals in their title-winning campaign.
But Liverpool have undergone major changes since then.
The arrivals of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitic and Alexander Isak suggest that Liverpool are gradually preparing for a future in which Salah is no longer the central figure in the attack.
Investing in young talent is a smart long-term strategy, but it also affects how often Salah finds himself in dangerous scoring positions.
Reality is arguably the main reason for Salah’s sharp decline in production, and the numbers bear it out.
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Salah has averaged only about 7.5 touches in the penalty area per game this season, which is a 25% drop from the average of about 10 times per game in the previous three years.
Furthermore, only 15% of Salah’s overall touches occurred in the penalty area, compared to 21% last year.
It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots from here, considering fewer touches in the opponent’s penalty area will naturally lead to fewer chances and goals.
