Liverpool's Title Hopes: Predictions and Concerns for the Season

Liverpool used to be the safe bet. Not this year.

Last season, 22 of 35 BBC pundits tipped them to win the title and only three dared to place them lower than second. Now? Out of 28 predictions, only four have Liverpool finishing higher than third. The mood has shifted. The faith has cooled.

Andoni Iraola’s arrival has injected intrigue, but not universal conviction.

Hitzlsperger backs Iraola’s Liverpool – and Wirtz

Thomas Hitzlsperger is one of the few still looking up rather than down. He has Liverpool finishing second, and his reasoning is clear: he believes in Iraola.

"I really like the way Iraola's teams play," he says, pointing to the Spaniard’s aggressive, front-foot style that impressed at Bournemouth. There’s also a personal leaning in his call. Hitzlsperger openly admits he is “kind of biased” because he is hoping Florian Wirtz finally delivers the season many expected from him a year ago.

It’s a prediction built on style and potential rather than certainty. But at least it’s bold.

Murphy urges patience – and questions the Salah plan

Danny Murphy is less bullish. He has Liverpool down in third and senses a club in transition rather than one ready to rip the title away from Manchester City or Arsenal.

In his view, Liverpool "might need a bit more time" before they are truly back in the thick of a title race. The big red flag for him is the attack, and specifically how they handle life after Mohamed Salah.

Murphy is unsure whether Liverpool believe they have already done enough by signing Victor Munoz and possibly handing a bigger role to Rio Ngumoha, or whether a major move is still coming. Paris St-Germain’s Bradley Barcola is one of the names in the frame, but as Murphy points out, it remains unclear if Liverpool will actually push hard for that kind of signing in the final days of the window.

Until that question is answered, his prediction stays cautious.

Smith impressed by Iraola – but worried about the defence

Sue Smith goes a step further down the table. She has Liverpool finishing fourth.

She freely acknowledges the size of the leap Iraola is making. Managing Liverpool is a different world from Bournemouth – different pressure, different scrutiny, different expectations. That, for her, is part of the fascination of this season: how he copes with that jump.

On the evidence so far, she is impressed. Judging him purely on his Bournemouth work, Smith says Iraola has been “brilliant”. The issue, in her eyes, lies at the other end of the pitch.

Defensively, she is concerned. Particularly down the right-hand side. In a league where margins are brutal and wide players are elite, that kind of structural doubt is enough for her to nudge Liverpool out of the top three.

So the picture is clear: admiration for Iraola, excitement about Wirtz, curiosity over Munoz and Ngumoha, and a lingering, stubborn question. Has Liverpool really done enough – on the pitch and in the market – to be feared again at the very top of the table?