Liverpool players ranked so far this season with Mohamed Salah and new signings struggling

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Liverpool's Premier League title defence began with a bang, securing five wins from five, but the warning signs were apparent from game one and they're now manifesting themselves.

Last weekend's loss at Chelsea means the Reds relinquished top spot with Arsenal taking over. Rivals Manchester City have also been able to close in and Arne Slot , after a summer of incredible spending, is tasked with ensuring their investment has a sufficient return.

Liverpool go into the international break off the back of three straight defeats in all competitions and lots of eyes are on their attack, which saw two British-record arrivals in Florian Wirtz and then Alexander Isak.

Defensively they are paying the price for a lack of control in the middle and front third, but even still Milos Kerkez has not yet settled and Ibrahima Konate's focus has been heavily questioned amid talk of a free transfer to Real Madrid in the summer.

Even superstars like Mohamed Salah have not dodged the obvious struggles at Anfield. His number began tailing off last season and the Egyptian continues to struggle for goals - he's only scored once from open play in the Premier League this term.

The international break gives the manager and the players time to take stock of the situation ahead of a titanic clash with Manchester United . Using our sister title Liverpool ECHO 's dedicated player ratings, we have placed every player into one of four sections.

It will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody to discover Dominik Szoboszlai is leading the way, primarily on the strength of his performances as a makeshift right-back.

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Nor is it a shock Alisson Becker is next in line, with the goalkeeper's recent injury a major blow to Liverpool given his importance to the side. However, that Federico Chiesa also registers highly - admittedly on the strength of far fewer games - indicates the impact the Italian has been making during the opening weeks.

Ryan Gravenberch missed the first two games but was impressive against Everton in particular while Hugo Ekitike (6.50) is the only one of the new signings to hit the ground running.

Curtis Jones has been consistent rather than spectacular and perhaps merits a run in the side. Virgil van Dijk (6.40) shone at Newcastle United and that Andy Robertson has been relatively decent indicates he may be the best bet at left-back right now.

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The start of Florian Wirtz hasn't quite been as bad as some observers have made out, although the lack of goals and just one assist indicates there is much, much more to come.

And Cody Gakpo is another to not exactly be anywhere near top form but capable of punching in solid showings on the left with the occasional goal contribution, such as at Chelsea on Saturday.

That there are so many players to perform below the starting average mark of six - and that most are considered regular starters - underlines just why Liverpool have been way off it so far this season. Conor Bradley is still playing catch-up after missing part of pre-season through injury, while fellow right-back Jeremie Frimpong has had his own fitness issues while attempting to adapt to new surrounds.

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A major concern has been Mohamed Salah, who while providing three goals and three assists has only intermittently shone and spent far too much time making negligible difference to the attack.

Alexander Isak at least has the excuse of a lack of pre-season and trying to find his feet in a new-look team, but Ibrahima Konate has merely continued his wildly contrasting form of the closing months of the previous campaign.

Milos Kerkez was far too eager to impress in the opening weeks and his confidence has been badly affected as a consequence. But the worst performer has been Alexis Mac Allister, who clearly is nowhere near fully fit after his fitness worries of the last six months and has too often watched games pass him by in midfield.

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