As the old adage goes, form is temporary, class is permanent.
It can happen to the best. Harry Kane, for example, scored just once in his first 13 Premier League games for Tottenham last season, before netting 16 in his next 24 outings once he had his mojo back.
Going under the radar slightly given their results did not particularly suffer as they hunted down an unprecedented quadruple, but opposite to Kane, Mohamed Salah's outstanding goalscoring form in the first half of the season for Liverpool regressed after the turn of the year.
Salah scored 20 non-penalty goals in 26 games in all competitions before heading to the Africa Cup of Nations, where his Egypt team suffered an agonising defeat on penalties to Sadio Mane's Senegal in the final.
On his return, Salah scored just five non-penalty goals in 25 outings. The assumption was that the 30-year-old needed a break, and he began the new campaign with a penalty against Manchester City in the 3-1 Community Shield victory and scored the equaliser at Fulham in an opening day 2-2 draw.
However, he has failed to score in three home games against Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Newcastle United, with his only other goal so far being a consolation in the 2-1 defeat at Manchester United.
That is not to say Salah is necessarily out of form (three goals in six outings is hardly bad so early in the season) but when he has set such high standards, seeing Liverpool have to so often rely on goals from elsewhere just feels a bit... strange.
Ahead of the Merseyside derby on Saturday, Stats Perform has taken a look at why Salah might not be producing the numbers we so often associate with him in front of goal. And in fact, playing against Everton at Goodison Park could be just the tonic.
Three of Salah's four Premier League goals for Liverpool against Everton have come at the home of the Toffees, with only Michael Owen (four) having scored more away goals for the Reds against their local rivals in the competition.
Salah's next goal in the Premier League will see him overtake Steven Gerrard's haul of 120 for the club.
It is frankly remarkable the goal has not already arrived, with Salah somehow unable to score in Liverpool's win against Bournemouth last weekend, even though almost everyone else did as Jurgen Klopp's men ran out 9-0 victors at Anfield.
He had chances, incredibly missing from close range after excellent build-up down the left in the first half, before controlling a lofted Fabinho pass in the second and firing over the bar.
In the much more difficult 2-1 win against Newcastle on Wednesday, Salah was relatively anonymous in front of goal, having just two shots, with neither on target.
Is this bad form though, or is Salah just being asked to fill a different role by Klopp?
The sale of Mane to Bayern Munich always felt like it was going to have a significant impact, with the Senegalese attacker such a vital part of their forward line in recent years.
Luis Diaz's January arrival looked to be setting the table for the next evolution of the attack, with Mane playing down the middle after the Colombia international came in, but the signing of striker Darwin Nunez at the end of the season seemed to signal a slightly more drastic change.
What would it mean for Salah? Well, so far it appears to have had an impact on his role, even with Nunez missing for the last three games through suspension after getting sent off on his home debut against Palace.
Last season, Salah averaged 56 touches per 90 minutes in the Premier League. So far this season he has averaged just 48, seemingly indicating fewer moves are going through him.
More noticeably, although the season is still very young, he is taking fewer shots than usual. Last season he was taking 4.5 shots per 90 in the league, which so far this campaign is down to just 2.8.
You might think that could be due to being more selective in his shots, but that also does not appear to be the case, with his shooting accuracy down at 33.3 per cent from 59.4 last season.
It is not all numbers going down though, as Salah appears to be on a mission to act as chief creator, having already crafted 21 chances from open play for team-mates in his five Premier League games, already more than a third as many as the 62 he created in 35 league games last campaign.
He made eight key passes in the draw with Palace, four at United and six against Newcastle, more than any other Liverpool player in each game, suggesting Salah is preparing himself for life alongside Nunez, who gobbled up chances at Benfica last season.
The 23-year-old had a shooting accuracy percentage of 62.3 per cent in the Primeira Liga in 2021-22, and a shot conversion rate of 30.6 per cent, compared to Salah's conversion rate of 22.8 per cent in a season in which he still scored 23 Premier League goals.
This could mean that, while not exactly reverting back to being the winger he was at Roma when playing with Edin Dzeko, Salah's job in the team may be evolving from main goal-getter to someone who can either score or create in equal measure, making Liverpool a little less predictable.
In his final season with Roma in 2016-17 before moving to Merseyside, he averaged 2.9 shots per game and created 2.5 chances from open play, not entirely dissimilar to the numbers he has put up in the early stages of the new season.
The plan with the presence of Nunez is presumably to cause one of two things, either lead to the Uruguayan making use of the space left by defenders all rushing to stop Salah, or allow the Egyptian more room than usual as opposition players are forced to keep an eye on his new team-mate.
You will never extinguish Salah's thirst for goals. Breaking scoring records is what he lives for, but as he said recently in an interview with Sky Sports: "I never say before the season [my individual goals]. But the collective one is the Premier League and Champions League. It has to be. That was my target last season and I go again until I win both again."
Whatever it takes to win more silverware at Liverpool, Salah will do it, and don't be surprised if that starts with a return to form against winless Everton.
After all, class is permanent.
Man City squad still stronger than Liverpool's even with injuries – Mills
Manchester City still have a stronger squad than Premier League title rivals Liverpool even with their numerous injury lay-offs, according to Danny Mills.
Reigning champions City have lost their past four games in all competitions – the first time that has happened in Guardiola's illustrious managerial career – and trail league leaders Liverpool by five points.
Recently crowned Ballon d'Or winner Rodri heads City's list of absentees, which also includes Oscar Bobb, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku and Nathan Ake.
While former City full-back Mills believes Pep Guardiola still has the best selection of players to choose from in the division, he has questioned whether the club could be doing more to prevent the injuries.
"I think you can look at the injuries and say City still have the strongest squad in the world, without a shadow of a doubt," Mills told Stats Perform. "There are two internationals for every single position on the pitch.
"There's a part of me that then thinks, if you have that many injuries, you have to look at why you've got that many injuries. Are they all freak accidents?
"Are they all impact injuries where you had no choice in the matter? Are they muscle injuries where maybe you have to look at training? So there are lots of factors to look at.
"Is training too difficult? Are the players playing too many games? Is there not enough rotation within the squad? What does recovery look like?
"You can't just say, 'Oh, we're unlucky, we've got injuries'. Generally, there are reasons why you get injured. You always get two or three freak injuries that there's absolutely nothing you can do about. But you also have to look within and manage those situations."
City have successfully navigated games without the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne in the past, both of whom are now back fit, but coping without holding midfielder Rodri is proving a more difficult task.
Guardiola's side have won 28 of their 36 games with Rodri in the side since the start of last season, losing none of those, while they have lost five of their 13 matches without the Spain international.
That win percentage drop-off from 77.8% with Rodri in the team to 53.8% without him also paints a clear picture, but Mills insists City can find a solution as they often have in the past.
"Every team has injuries, every single club that's ever won anything," he said. "Manchester City have done this before. They won the league without Sergio Aguero, playing a false nine at times.
"They went through spells without Vincent Kompany, without a centre-half. They found a way, and that's what the very, very best teams do. They find a way when maybe they haven't got their preferred 11.
"It's never easy to lose one of your main players, even if you have pretty adequate replacements. Rodri makes Manchester City tick. We've seen it before with Fernandinho in that role. He was absolutely superb.
"But you have to find a way around that. You still have Kevin De Bruyne. You still have Mateo Kovacic in there. You've still got Phil Foden that can drop into those spaces, Bernardo Silva. We've seen Ilkay Gundogan has been in there as well."
Losing four games in a row is also a rarity for City, having last done so in August 2006 when Stuart Pearce was manager of the club.
The most recent of those defeats, a 2-1 reverse at Brighton and Hove Albion, saw the Citizens lose a league game they led at half-time for the first time since May 2021 – also away at Brighton.
Liverpool have taken full advantage of City's blip as they have collected 28 points from the first 33 on offer – only in 2019-20 (31) have they accrued more at this stage.
However, Mills insists Guardiola's side are still more than capable of overhauling Liverpool, who they face at Anfield on 1 December.
"I don't think the title race is over by any stretch of the imagination. I know Liverpool are top at the moment, but City have been there, seen it, done it several times, with a manager who's done it as well.
"I know the Liverpool players have done it, but the manager hasn't been in this situation. Liverpool will go through a tricky spell. How they deal with that is yet unknown."
Mills also pointed to the uncertainty surrounding the future of Guardiola as another reason behind City's drop-off.
"Pep's future is uncertain, and I don't think that helps," Mills said. "We saw it with Alex Ferguson [at Manchester United] the first time around, when he said he was going to retire at the end of the season, and United dropped off.
"We saw it last season with Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool were top by about five points clear. I know City had a game in hand at that stage, but they ended up nine points behind Manchester City. It clearly has an effect.
"There will be the argument that Alex Ferguson won the title in his last season, but maybe after such a long time, that was just one last hurrah, and maybe that was more about the players."
Serie A side Genoa confirm sacking of head coach Gilardino
Serie A side Genoa have confirmed the departure of their head coach Alberto Gilardino, with Patrick Vieira reportedly on his way in.
Gilardino, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, leaves the club with them sitting just one point above the relegation size with 10 points from 12 matches this season.
A former striker who played for clubs including Genoa, Parma, AC Milan and Fiorentina, Gilardino took charge of Genoa in 2022 and helped them earn promotion to the top division before a 11th-place finish during the 2023-24 season.
"The club thanks Gilardino for the goals achieved together over the years and wishes him the best for his career," Genoa said in a statement.
The 42-year-old saw his side salvage a late 1-1 draw against Cesc Fabregas' Como in their last match before the international break.
Genoa were also knocked out of the Coppa Italia in the second round following a defeat to Sampdoria on penalties in September.
Arsenal legend Vieira is set to replace him, according to multiple reports.
The former France midfielder has been out of work since leaving Strasbourg by mutual consent in July.
Jonathan David names Barcelona as dream club amid Lille uncertainty
Jonathan David admits it is his dream to play for Barcelona as he prepares to enter the final six months of his Lille contract.
The Canada international is into his fifth season with the Ligue 1 side but is due to become a free agent at the end of the current campaign.
Lille have attempted to persuade David with a new deal, though he looks set to depart Stade Pierre-Mauroy in 2025 – potentially as early as January if a club is prepared to pay a transfer fee.
However, while the 24-year-old is seemingly open to a move to Barcelona, he suggested he would prefer to wait until the end of the campaign before taking the next step in his career.
"Going to a club midseason is never easy," he told The Athletic. "It's not like the beginning of a season where you have a pre-season, you get to know your team-mates, you have time to gel.
"In January, things are very hectic. It's about right now. It's tougher."
"[Barcelona] was always the team I grew up supporting. When you grow up supporting a team, it's your dream to play for them.
"Some people might say, 'Oh, he's staying at Lille, this is a downgrade, he's not getting better'. But for me, there's always opportunities to get better."
David has scored 13 goals in 19 games for Lille in all competitions this season, including goals against heavyweight sides Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Juventus in the Champions League.
Including penalties, eight of those goals have been scored via his stronger right boot, four with his left and one with his head – an area the forward accepts he can still improve.
"Aerially, I can get better," he said. "Getting that header on target and scoring.
"I can get in good positions and win headers but the finishing touch, I'm still missing. With my back to goal, I can also get better."
David is averaging a goal every 112 minutes across all competitions this season, which compares to one every 139 minutes last season and 131 in 2022-23.
However, he still has some way to go to match the 18 goals scored in 27 league games for former club Gent in 2019-20.
"Things are good right now because I'm scoring goals," David said.
"But is this the best I've played in my life? Probably not. For me, it was my second year in Belgium. That was the season of my life."
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