Peter Crouch and Michael Owen issue wildly contrasting Liverpool predictions for 2026/27

Peter Crouch and Michael Owen issue wildly contrasting Liverpool predictions for 2026/27

Peter Crouch and Michael Owen have issued rather contrasting predictions as to how they think Liverpool will fare in the Premier League this season.

The Reds will be desperate for significant improvement on last term’s feeble fifth-place finish which cost Arne Slot his job and led to the appointment of Andoni Iraola.

In contrast to last summer’s £446m trolley dash, this has been a much quieter transfer window at Anfield with only three new arrivals thus far (including one on loan), so expectations are generally much lower going to 2026/27 than they had been a year ago.

Owen and Crouch make contrasting Liverpool predictions

Owen is confident that Liverpool can bounce back to mount a title challenge this season, telling the Metro: “Last season at Liverpool wasn’t great. The style of play wasn’t as good as it had been and they conceded far too many goals, but Slot leaving and Iraola replacing him means a new style of play.

“He brings a lot of excitement from the way he played at Bournemouth, but Liverpool are a much bigger club and the pressure mounts up now.

“I do think Liverpool need more, but it looks like [Bradley] Barcola is the one they want and it will cost them a huge amount of money to get him in; but if they can do that and add more depth, more quality, then they can really challenge for the title.”

While Owen has predicted the Reds to finish second, Crouch doesn’t see his former club even making the top four.

He said on That Peter Crouch Podcast: “I think the manager’s great but losing the players they’ve lost in the past couple of seasons has hurt them. Have they been replaced? I’m not so sure. I don’t think they can win the league this year.”

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What can we expect from Liverpool in Iraola’s first season?

Our expectation for Liverpool this season falls somewhere in between those of Owen and Crouch.

Asking Iraola to turn the underwhelming outfit of 2025/26 into champions a year later is unrealistic, with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City realistically far better placed to compete for the trophy once again.

However, if the Reds tighten up defensively and become more clinical in attack, they should be well capable of comfortably qualifying for the Champions League, rather than leaving it until the final day and sneaking in via the additional European Performance Spot like they did last term.

While it’d be unwise to draw definitive conclusions from pre-season, especially with so many regular first-team starters missing a few games, the early signs from Iraola’s Liverpool are that they look far more lively going forward than Slot’s 2025/26 side, but remain far too vulnerable in their own half of the pitch.

The prospect of further transfer activity over the next three weeks could also shift the goalposts in terms of what the Reds are capable of, but as of now, we’d be happy with a marked improvement on last season and setting a solid base from which to properly push for the title next term.