Walcott's Bold Prediction for Liverpool in 2026/27 Title Race
Theo Walcott has picked out Liverpool as the Premier League’s great unknown this season – but he still expects them to come roaring back.
The former Arsenal forward admits he finds Iraola’s side “probably the hardest team to call”, yet he’s backed them to leap from last year’s disappointing fifth place to become Arsenal’s main threat in the 2026/27 title race.
Walcott’s bold call on Liverpool
Liverpool’s pre-season has offered more questions than answers. Three wins, one draw, two defeats – flashes of promise, patches of concern – and now Iraola’s tenure starts for real with a demanding trip to Newcastle on Sunday.
This time a year ago, Liverpool were defending champions and carrying the weight of expectation. Now, after a flat 2025/26 and a worryingly subdued transfer window so far, the mood is very different. The bar has dropped. So have the predictions.
Not for Walcott.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the 37-year-old set out his view in simple terms: “Liverpool are probably the hardest team to call. Iraola is an excellent manager and if Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz have big seasons, they could absolutely push Arsenal for the title.”
He’s gone as far as tipping the Reds to finish second, behind his old club Arsenal. Manchester City and Chelsea complete his projected top four.
It’s a striking show of faith in a side many see as drifting away from the summit.
A team nobody can quite pin down
The split among pundits underlines just how enigmatic Liverpool look right now.
Paul Merson is on Walcott’s side and also has Iraola’s team down for second. Steve Nicol sees something very different, warning that Liverpool might not even make the top six by the end of May.
That gap in opinion tells its own story. Nobody really knows what version of Liverpool is about to emerge.
The evidence from pre-season is contradictory but intriguing. Iraola’s blueprint has already produced some blistering attacking moves, the kind that can shred opponents in a few ruthless minutes. The flip side is familiar and troubling: space left on the break, gaps in transition, and a nagging weakness at set pieces.
This doesn’t look like a machine built to grind out a title campaign. It looks like a side capable of brilliance – and of blowing up.
Echoes of Rodgers and early Klopp
There’s a sense that Liverpool could be heading back towards the wild, high-wire days of Brendan Rodgers’ best season or Jurgen Klopp’s first months in charge.
On-song, those teams were irresistible. They scored in bursts, played with chaos and courage, and could turn Anfield into a storm. But they also leaked goals, dropped points in games they should control, and never quite found the relentless, suffocating consistency that defines champions.
Iraola’s Liverpool feels like it might live in that same space: thrilling, aggressive, unpredictable. A side you’d pay to watch, but one that might leave you staring at the league table in April wondering what might have been.
Lower expectations, higher entertainment?
What seems clear is that Liverpool should at least be more watchable than they were in Arne Slot’s grim second campaign, when the football grew stale and the optimism drained away.
The squad still has days left in the window for reinforcements, and any late additions could tilt the balance. Even without them, there’s enough attacking talent to suggest this season won’t be dull.
The realistic view sits somewhere between Walcott’s bullish optimism and Nicol’s stark warning. A step up from fifth feels attainable. A full-blown title charge? That looks a stretch, at least for now.
Liverpool are walking into the new season as a riddle. Walcott thinks the answer is “second place”. Over the next nine months, Iraola has to prove whether this volatile, exhilarating version of Liverpool can be more than just a great watch.
