Liverpool's Title Predictions: Pundits Split on Future
Liverpool, once the darlings of last season’s title predictions, are walking into this campaign with the spotlight dimmed.
A year ago, 22 of 35 BBC pundits tipped them to win the league. Only three thought they would finish outside the top two. This time, from a smaller pool of 28 predictors, just four believe Liverpool will end higher than third. The mood has shifted. The questions have multiplied.
Hitzlsperger backs Iraola – and Wirtz
Thomas Hitzlsperger still leans towards optimism. He has Liverpool down for 2nd.
His faith is rooted not in nostalgia for the Jürgen Klopp era, but in what he sees in Andoni Iraola.
"I really like the way Iraola's teams play," he says, pointing to the intensity and structure that defined the Spaniard’s Bournemouth side. There is also a personal angle: Hitzlsperger is openly hoping Florian Wirtz finally explodes into the season many expected from him last year. If Wirtz hits that level, Hitzlsperger believes Liverpool’s ceiling rises with him.
It’s a bold call in a season where few are willing to go that high.
Murphy sees a step back before a step up
Danny Murphy is less bullish. He has Liverpool finishing 3rd and senses a team in transition rather than one ready to reclaim the crown immediately.
For Murphy, the attack is the hinge on which the season swings. Liverpool are entering life after Mohamed Salah, and the replacement plan is still shrouded in doubt.
He wonders whether the club hierarchy genuinely believe Victor Munoz and a larger role for Rio Ngumoha will be enough to cover Salah’s goals, creativity and aura. Or whether a late, aggressive move is coming for Paris St-Germain’s Bradley Barcola, or a similar profile of wide forward, in the final days of the window.
Until that question is answered, Murphy sees Liverpool a notch below the very top.
Smith impressed – but wary of the defence
Sue Smith pushes them one place lower. Her prediction: 4th.
She has been impressed by Iraola’s work at Bournemouth, where he transformed a side many tipped for trouble into a sharp, organised, front-foot team. That track record earns respect, but not blind faith.
Smith underlines the scale of the leap. Managing Liverpool means a different level of pressure, expectation and scrutiny. Every selection, every tweak, every wobble will be magnified.
Her biggest concern is at the back. She points straight at the defensive structure, and particularly the right-hand side, as a potential fault line. In a league where margins are brutal and wide players are elite, that vulnerability could decide whether Liverpool stay in the title conversation or get dragged into a scrap just to stay in the top four.
The pundits, then, are split between cautious belief and outright scepticism. The era of automatic Liverpool title predictions has gone. Iraola’s job is to prove they haven’t gone for good.
