Premier League & FA Cup predictions: Lawro v boxer George Groves

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BBC Sport expert Mark Lawrenson

BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson is pitting his wits against a different guest each week this season.

His opponent for this weekend's Premier League fixtures is British super-middleweight boxer George Groves, who is a Chelsea fan.

Groves takes on WBA and IBF super-middleweight champion Carl Froch in a rematch at Wembley Stadium on 31 May, after losing their first meeting in a contentious ninth-round stoppage last November.

Media caption,

Football Focus: George Groves gives Premier League predictions

He told BBC Sport: "I've been a Chelsea fan for some time - not just since they got any good!

"One of my earliest memories is sitting on the floor in my Nan's front room watching them win the FA Cup final against Middlesbrough in 1997.

"Seeing Dennis Wise lift the cup that day was pretty sweet and obviously since then I have seen them win a lot more trophies as well.

"My cousins and uncles are season-ticket holders and when I was younger I used to go in with them in the Matthew Harding Stand and get to a few away games as well, which was always good fun.

"But in the last few years, since my boxing has kicked on, I have struggled to get down to Stamford Bridge as much as I'd like."

You can see all of Groves' predictions on Football Focus at 12:00 BST on Saturday on BBC One and the BBC Sport website (in the UK).

He is also predicting some success for himself in the ring against Froch. "Ultimately, it's a one horse race," he said. "I think I will knock him out within three rounds."

Premier League predictions

Score

Lawro

Groves

SATURDAY

Crystal Palace v Aston Villa

1-0

2-1

1-0

Fulham v Norwich

1-0

2-0

1-0

Southampton v Cardiff

0-1

2-0

2-0

Stoke v Newcastle

1-0

2-0

1-2

Sunderland v Everton

0-1

0-2

0-1

West Brom v Tottenham

3-3

1-1

2-2

SUNDAY

Liverpool v Man City

3-2

1-1

1-3

Swansea v Chelsea

0-1

1-1

0-4

A correct result (ie picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth ONE point. A correct score earns THREE points.

Groves did not make any predictions for the FA Cup semi-finals, but will hope to do better against Lawro than Froch fared in December 2012. Froch, a big Nottingham Forest fan, got only one result correct out of 10.

FA Cup predictions

Score

Lawro

SATURDAY

Wigan v Arsenal

1-1 (Arsenal win 4-2 on pens)

0-2

SUNDAY

Hull v Sheff Utd

5-3

2-1

Last weekend, Lawro got six correct results from 10 Premier League games, with one perfect score. His tally of eight points saw him beat MOTD pundit Alan Shearer, who got four correct results, with no perfect scores, giving him a total of four points.

We're keeping a record of the totals for Lawro and his guests (below), and showing a table of how the Premier League would look if all of Lawro's predictions were correct (at the bottom of the page).

Totals after week 33

Lawro

249

Guests

162

LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS

All kick-offs 15:07 BST unless otherwise stated.

SATURDAY

Crystal Palace 1-0 Aston Villa

Lawro's prediction: 2-1

George's prediction: 1-0

Match report

Fulham 1-0 Norwich

Lawro's prediction: 2-0

George's prediction: 1-0

Match report

Southampton 0-1 Cardiff

Lawro's prediction: 2-0

George's prediction: 2-0

Match report

Stoke 1-0 Newcastle

Lawro's prediction: 2-0

George's prediction: 1-2

Match report

Sunderland 0-1 Everton

Lawro's prediction: 0-2

George's prediction: 0-1

Match report

West Brom 3-3 Tottenham

Lawro's prediction: 1-1

George's prediction: 2-2

Match report

Wigan 1-1 Arsenal (FA Cup semi-final) Arsenal win 4-2 on pens

Lawro's prediction: 0-2

Match report

SUNDAY

Liverpool 3-2 Man City

Lawro's prediction: 1-1

George's prediction: 1-3

Match report

Swansea 0-1 Chelsea

Lawro's prediction: 1-1

George's prediction: 0-4

Match report

Hull 5-3 Sheff Utd

Lawro's prediction: 2-1

Match report

Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan

Lawro v Guests

P33

W22

D2

L9

SCORE

GUEST LEADERBOARD

12

Nicky Wire

11

Susanna Reid

10

Usain Bolt, Tim Key*

9

Charlotte Green, Camp Bastion troops

7.55

Lawro (average after 33 weeks)

7

Danny John-Jules, Steve Wilson

6

Katy B, John Bishop, Kevin Clifton, Gaz Coombes, Alistair McGowan, Joe Montana, Greg James, Alan Shearer

5

Geraint Thomas*, Sam Tomkins, The National

4

David Baddiel, David Cameron, Guy Mowbray, Jason Sudeikis, Eliza Doolittle

3

Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Kaiser Chiefs, Woody*

2

Sam Bailey, Cal Crutchlow, Gail Emms, Jim Kerr, David Schneider

1

Michael Palin, Vic Reeves

0

Josh Franceschi

* Does not include scores for postponed games

Lawro's best score: 16 points (week 21 v Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone)

Lawro's worst score: 3 points (week 26 v Geraint Thomas, before postponed games are played)

ARROWS DENOTE DIFFERENCE TO REAL TABLE

POS

TEAM

P

W

D

L

PTS

DIFF

+/-

1.

Man City

32

29

3

0

90

+2

2.

Chelsea

33

25

6

2

81

0

3.

Man Utd

33

23

7

3

76

+4

4.

Liverpool

33

21

9

3

72

-3

5.

Arsenal

33

17

12

4

63

-1

6.

Tottenham

33

16

5

12

53

0

7.

Everton

33

12

12

9

48

-2

8.

Southampton

33

13

8

12

47

0

9.

Stoke

33

10

7

16

37

+1

10.

Swansea

33

10

7

16

37

+5

11.

Norwich

33

10

7

16

37

+6

12.

Aston Villa

32

8

12

12

36

+1

13.

West Brom

32

9

8

15

35

+3

14.

Newcastle

33

8

10

15

34

-5

15.

West Ham

33

9

7

17

34

-3

16.

Fulham

33

8

9

16

33

+4

17.

Crystal Palace

33

8

7

18

31

-1

18.

Hull City

33

6

10

17

28

-4

19.

Sunderland

32

3

9

20

18

0

20.

Cardiff

33

1

11

21

14

-2

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