How Liverpool Overturned the Predictions of Football Pundits?

"They still need one more season to compete for a top-four finish," said Pat Nevin, one of the pundits or football experts, regarding his prediction for Liverpool this season.

"The title race is between Manchester City and Arsenal, no one else," predicted former England international Chris Waddle.

"Liverpool is a natural choice for the third position, but who knows the impact of Juergen Klopp's departure?" said Leon Osman, a former Everton player.

Nevin, Waddle, and Osman are three of dozens of pundits, observers, or football experts who were asked for their predictions regarding the results of this season's English Premier League competition. They are part of the 30 pundits gathered by the British media, BBC.

The pundits gathered by the BBC consist of former football players, some of whom are regarded as legends at various clubs they have represented. In addition to the three names mentioned above, there are also Joe Hart, Theo Walcott, Chris Sutton, Dion Dublin, Micah Richards, Steve Sidwell, Shay Given, Fara Williams, Stephen Warnock, and Matt Upson.

As former players who have competed in elite European competitions, they certainly possess the capability to speak on football matters. Their voices carry more weight compared to those who merely claim to be football observers.

In addition to the BBC, the Premier League also gathered 11 pundits to predict the results of this season's English League. They also include former renowned players, such as Michael Owen, Darren Bent, Tim Sherwood, Mark Schwarzer, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Jermain Defoe, and Matt Holland.

Of the 30 analysts gathered by the BBC to predict the outcome of the English Premier League, not a single one favored Liverpool to become the champion. The majority still predicted that Manchester City would retain their title. Some others forecasted that the crown would slip from City and belong to Arsenal.

Most place Liverpool in third position, but Nevin, Osman, and Sidwell do not include Liverpool at all in the competition for the top four. The three of them favor Manchester United, Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea to achieve higher positions than Liverpool.

Meanwhile, only two pundits predicted that Liverpool would finish in second place. They are former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock and England women's national team legend Fara Williams.

The same is true for the pundits gathered by the Premier League. Not a single one predicted that Liverpool would top the league. Owen and Bent predicted Arsenal would be champions, while Given, Sherwood, and Defoe forecasted that City would retain the title.

Although these pundits have significant names and competence to discuss football, Liverpool made them appear like amateur observers. Indeed, it cannot be denied that these pundits have strong reasons for not choosing Liverpool as champions.

As the season approaches, Liverpool has just lost the legendary coach Juergen Klopp, who announced his resignation in the previous season. The loss of a coach of Klopp's caliber will undoubtedly make it difficult for any club.

For Liverpool, losing Klopp can be likened to when Manchester United lost Alex Ferguson, Arsenal parted ways with Arsene Wenger, or when Manchester City will eventually be without Pep Guardiola.

Observers believe that Liverpool will have a hard time finding a suitable coach to replace the legend. The search ended with Arne Slot.

The difficulty in finding a replacement for Klopp is evident in the fact that Slot was not actually the first choice. Slot is the third option behind other candidates to occupy the hot seat left by Klopp.

Liverpool had previously sought their former player, Xabi Alonso, who had just successfully led Bayer Leverkusen to the Bundesliga title with an unbeaten record, ending Bayern Munich's dominance. However, Alonso, the former defensive midfielder of Liverpool during Rafael Benitez's management, declined to leave Germany.

In addition, Liverpool is also reported to be approaching Ruben Amorim. However, they do not align with the coaching philosophy of the Portuguese coach. Amorim, who relies on a 3-5-2 formation and its variations, is considered incompatible with the character of the current Liverpool players.

Liverpool's management believes that it would be too costly to overhaul the existing squad and acquire new players that align with Amorim's philosophy. The 40-year-old coach then joined Manchester United, replacing Erik ten Hag, who was dismissed in the middle of the season.

In addition to the issue of the coach, another reason for the pundits' doubts is the lack of depth in Liverpool's squad with minimal new blood. It can be said that the summer transfer market ahead of the competition has been a poor transfer window for "The Reds." The top target, Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, declined to join despite previously expressing willingness. The team has only secured one new player, Enrico Chiesa, who is often plagued by injuries.

However, Slot was able to overturn the predictions of observers, and honestly, even football fans, including Liverpool supporters, this season. Liverpool immediately performed brilliantly, achieving victory after victory. They displayed dominance, suffering only two defeats. The title was secured with a 5-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday (27/4/2025) evening.

Slot brings a new philosophy or approach to the game. If Klopp applies more of the 4-3-3 scheme with gegenpressing, Slot is different. The former Feyenoord coach uses a 4-2-3-1 scheme, with two midfielders as anchors in front of four defenders. Slot's Liverpool game is not as attractive as Klopp's heavy metal style, but it is very effective.

The skepticism of football observers and fans has led to a shift in the narrative regarding the success of Virgil van Dijk and his teammates this season. At the beginning of the season, the prevailing narrative was that Liverpool would not win the championship due to having a poor squad and performing above their potential because of Klopp's presence.

As Si Merah continues to reap positive results, the narrative shifts to them enjoying what is referred to as the "new manager bounce" effect. This is because it is often the case that a club that changes its coach immediately experiences positive outcomes. Such good results typically last only for a short period before they fall into decline.

When Liverpool's performance remained strong until January-February with only one defeat, the narrative changed once again. This time, Liverpool was said to be fortunate because rival teams, Manchester City and Arsenal, were plagued by injuries. However, Liverpool experienced the same situation when players such as Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Diego Jota, and later Trent Alexander-Arnold were absent for a considerable period.

The narrative continues to evolve as Liverpool edges closer to the championship, having opened a 13-point lead over their nearest competitor, Arsenal. Initially skeptical of Liverpool's squad strength, many observers have since stated that Slot has inherited a good team left by Klopp.

There is another narrative to downplay the achievements of Slot and Liverpool, which is that this season's English League competition is boring and the teams are weakened because their point totals are not as high as last season.

The performance of English Premier League clubs in Europe serves as evidence that they should not be underestimated. In the Champions League, Arsenal easily defeated Real Madrid, while Aston Villa put up a fierce fight against PSG. Liverpool topped the group stage of the Champions League before losing in a penalty shootout to PSG.

The impressive performances of clubs have secured a minimum of five spots for England in next season's Champions League due to their superior UEFA coefficient. In the Europa League, two lower-tier English teams, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, are set to compete in the semifinals. Meanwhile, in the Conference League, Chelsea continues to advance.

Intense competition in the English Premier League for Champions League positions demonstrates a level playing field. Clubs are able to steal points from one another. There are six clubs vying for a ticket to accompany Liverpool to the Champions League next season. In fact, from third to seventh place, they are separated by only five points.

The dominance of Liverpool is evident from their points tally. Slot's squad has opened an 11-point lead at the top after 31 weeks, the largest since the 2020/2021 season. However, they have yet to surpass the record 23-point advantage achieved by Klopp's team in the 2019/2020 season.

From a competitive standpoint, statistics indicate that this season has seen a higher number of goals scored per match. This season, an average of 2.94 goals per game has been recorded, the second highest in the Premier League era. Only last season had a higher average of goals scored.

Meanwhile, in each match, there is an average of 26 shots with 9.19 on target. Last season, there were 27.6 shots and 9.89 on target. Both seasons are the highest in this category since the 2012/2013 season.

In several press conferences leading up to the match, Slot faced questions regarding this matter. One of these occurred before the match against Spurs. Slot, who is the 12th coach to win the Premier League and the first Dutch person to do so, rejected the notion that this season is boring or weak.

Slot pointed out the facts regarding the intense competition for the five Champions League tickets. "I think there is nothing more exciting than the competition for the top four or five spots. Last season, it was very clear who occupied those positions. Currently, it is very difficult to secure a place in the top four or five," said Slot.

"In my opinion, this is a very difficult league. There are no easy matches. It is very hard to win a game," added the 46-year-old coach.

With more money circulating in the English Premier League, each club has the ability to purchase quality players to strengthen their squad. Mid-tier clubs equipped with financial resources have the potential to become dark horses.

That is what is happening currently. Teams such as Brighton, Forrest, Bournemouth, and Fulham have a number of quality players who could be starters at top clubs. They can take points from City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and embarrass Manchester United.

This is different from the era more than a decade ago when a single club could dominate without challenge because it was the only club that could easily poach the best players without competition.

The influx of new money from wealthy owners, such as Roman Abramovic at Chelsea (which has now changed ownership), the UAE at Manchester City, and now Newcastle United owned by Saudi Arabia, has made the competition more challenging. With a more equitable distribution of financial power, it will be very difficult for any single club to maintain a dominant position for an extended period.

Whatever it may be, for the supporters of Si Merah, they do not care about any efforts to downplay the achievements of Slot, Van Dijk, Mo Salah, and their colleagues. What matters most is that the title is in their hands.