Liverpool's Premier League Outlook: Walcott's Expectations

Theo Walcott has branded Liverpool “probably the hardest team to call” ahead of the new Premier League season – but he still expects them to come roaring back from last year’s slump.

Andoni Iraola’s first real test arrives on Sunday away to Newcastle, with Liverpool’s pre-season offering little clarity. Three wins, a draw and two defeats have left the picture blurred rather than sharpened as the post-Arne Slot era properly begins.

This is not the Liverpool of 12 months ago. Back then they were defending champions, weighed down by expectation. Now they are coming off a bleak fifth-place finish and a flat, quiet transfer window. The noise around them has dropped. The questions haven’t.

Walcott’s bold call

Walcott, though, sees a threat lurking beneath the uncertainty.

Speaking to BBC Sport, the former Arsenal forward said: “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.”

Strip away the obvious slip in naming Isak – a Newcastle striker, not a Liverpool one – and the message is clear: Walcott expects two Liverpool stars in particular to define their ceiling and turn them into Arsenal’s closest challengers.

At 37, he has nailed his colours to the mast. He’s backing Liverpool to finish second, tucked in behind his old club, with Manchester City and Chelsea completing his top four.

That optimism is far from universal.

A team nobody can quite read

Liverpool have become the Premier League’s riddle. Ask three pundits where they’ll finish and you might get three different answers.

Paul Merson shares Walcott’s bullish view and has also tipped them for second. Steve Nicol goes the other way entirely, warning that Iraola’s side might not even make the top six by the end of May.

That spread tells its own story. No one really knows what this Liverpool will be.

Right now, a more measured view sits somewhere between those poles. Improvement on last season feels realistic, almost expected. A full-blooded title charge? That looks a step too far unless something dramatic changes in both performance and recruitment over the coming days.

Iraola’s Liverpool: dazzling and fragile

Pre-season under Iraola has already sketched out the rough outline of his Liverpool.

At their best, they look electric. The attacking patterns are sharp, the tempo high, the movement relentless. There have been spells where they’ve overwhelmed opponents, the kind of surges that can turn Anfield into a storm again.

Then the flip side hits.

They remain open on the counter, exposed when attacks break down, and old weaknesses on set pieces have not vanished. One long ball, one second phase from a corner, and the whole structure can wobble. It’s thrilling. It’s also risky.

The comparison writes itself. This Liverpool could easily resemble the Brendan Rodgers vintage or the early Jurgen Klopp months – capable of blowing teams away one week and leaking goals the next. Devastating in flashes, too chaotic to grind out the relentless points total a title race usually demands.

Better to watch – but how far can they go?

If nothing else, Iraola’s side should be easier on the eye than the jaded, disjointed outfit that stumbled through Slot’s second season. The ideas are clearer, the intensity higher, the intent more aggressive.

There is still time, just, for late signings to alter the mood and the ceiling of this squad. A couple of smart additions could tighten the back door or add the extra touch of quality that turns wild 3-2s into controlled 2-0s.

For now, cautious optimism feels about right. Liverpool look primed to be livelier, more dangerous, and far more watchable.

Just not quite as ready to chase Arsenal all the way as Theo Walcott insists they are.