Premier League predictions: Lawro v Graeme Swann
- Published
BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson will be making a prediction for all 380 Premier League games this season against a variety of different guests.
Lawro's opponent for the opening round of Premier League fixtures is former England cricketer Graeme Swann.
You can make your own predictions now, compare them to Lawro and other fans and try to take your team to the top of the leaderboard by playing the new BBC Sport Predictor game.
Along with Radio 1 DJ Greg James, Swann also made some predictions for the fourth Ashes Test, which started at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Swann (right) and Greg James are at Trent Bridge for the latest clash in the five-match Ashes series
When it comes to football, Swann is a Newcastle United fan with fond memories of Kevin Keegan's swashbuckling Magpies team of the 1990s.
The former Nottinghamshire spinner told BBC Sport: "The highlight of that period was what is known as 'Howay 5-0' - Newcastle United five, Manchester United nowt.
"It was October 1996 and I was 17. I was playing a game of junior football and I came home and feared the worst for some reason, thinking we might have lost.
"But, as I got home and knocked on the door, I looked in the bay window and there was the biggest beaming smile on Philippe Albert's face on the TV.
Albert celebrates his famous chip that completed Newcastle's rout of United
"I thought then that we might have won but when I got in my dad was so happy he was almost crying. So I will always remember that day."
Swann is backing Newcastle to get their campaign off to a winning start against Southampton on Sunday and thinks there is a successful season in store at St James' Park.
You can hear more of his tales of supporting Newcastle on Football Focus at 12:10 BST on Saturday on BBC One and the BBC Sport website.
Premier League predictions - Week 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Swann | |
SATURDAY | |||
Man Utd v Tottenham | 1-0 | 2-0 | 1-2 |
Bournemouth v Aston Villa | 0-1 | 2-1 | 2-0 |
Everton v Watford | 2-2 | 2-1 | 3-0 |
Leicester v Sunderland | 4-2 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
Norwich v Crystal Palace | 1-3 | 0-2 | 1-2 |
Chelsea v Swansea | 2-2 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
SUNDAY | |||
Arsenal v West Ham | 0-2 | 3-0 | 2-0 |
Newcastle v Southampton | 2-2 | 2-1 | 2-0 |
Stoke v Liverpool | 0-1 | 1-1 | 1-0 |
MONDAY | |||
West Brom v Man City | 0-3 | 1-1 | 0-2 |
Our scoring system has changed this season and a correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is now worth TEN points. The exact score earns FORTY points.
You can see how all the guests from last season fared in the scoreboard at the bottom of the page (using the old scoring system of one and three points), plus the final table showing how the 2014-15 Premier League would have looked if all of Lawro's predictions were correct.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
All kick-offs 15:00 BST unless otherwise stated.
SATURDAY
Man Utd 1-0 Tottenham
Bournemouth 0-1 Aston Villa
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Swann's prediction: I'm going for the new boys - everyone starts with a bang in the Premier League. 2-0
Everton 2-2 Watford
Leicester 4-2 Sunderland
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Swann's prediction: This is a tricky one for me - living in Nottingham I am not allowed to like Leicester and being a Newcastle fan I am not allowed to like Sunderland. So I'm going for 0-0. It will be the worst game of the week and the last game on MOTD - don't even bother watching it.
Norwich 1-3 Crystal Palace
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Swann's prediction: I've got a soft spot for Norwich but I kind of like ex-Newcastle manager Alan Pardew too. 1-2
Chelsea 2-2 Swansea
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Swann's prediction: It's a no-brainer this year that Chelsea will win the league again under Mourinho. 2-0
SUNDAY
Arsenal 0-2 West Ham
Lawro's prediction: 3-0
Swann's prediction: If they keep everyone fit, Arsenal are going to be very good this year. 2-0
Newcastle 2-2 Southampton
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Swann's prediction: It's a good job it is not at Southampton because we always lose there but teams don't come to St James' Park and come away with anything. 2-0
Stoke 0-1 Liverpool
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Swann's prediction: Stoke always surprise people at home. They are very hard to play against. 1-0
MONDAY
West Brom 0-3 Man City
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Swann's prediction: Man City will get off to a good start but I think they will finish fourth this year, one place behind Newcastle. 0-2
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
HOW DID LAWRO DO LAST SEASON?
SCORE | GUEST LEADERBOARD |
|---|---|
17 | Kieran Shudall |
12 | Mark Ronson |
11 | Steph Houghton |
10 | Liam Fray, Rachel Riley |
9 | Kelly Smith, Phil 'The Power' Taylor, Justin Young |
8 | Death in Paradise, Roddy Doyle, Tim Henman, Olly Murs, Dermot O'Leary, Mark Selby, Henning Wehn, Benedict Wong |
7 | Lawro (average after 38 weeks), Ossie Ardiles, George Ford, Miles Jacobson, Thomas Turgoose, Seann Walsh, Bill Wyman |
6 | Carl Fogarty, Football Manager, Mark Wright & Karen Hauer, Steve Wilson |
5 | Joe Cole, The Eggheads, Sarah Harding & Leon Fagbemi, Van McCann, Adil Ray |
3 | DJ Fresh & Adam F |
4 | Kell Brook, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Guy Mowbray |
2 | Wade 'Bad News' Barrett, John Cooper Clarke, Neil Lennon, Jack O'Connell |
Lawro's best score: 17 points (week seven v Ossie Ardiles)
Lawro's worst score: 1 point (week 37 v Thomas Turgoose)
ARROWS DENOTE DIFFERENCE TO FINAL STANDINGS IN REAL 2014-15 TABLE | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | DIFF | +/- |
1. | Man City | 38 | 32 | 6 | 0 | 102 | +1 | |
2. | Chelsea | 38 | 31 | 7 | 0 | 100 | -1 | |
3. | Arsenal | 38 | 25 | 10 | 3 | 85 | 0 | |
4. | Man Utd | 38 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 79 | 0 | |
5. | Liverpool | 38 | 21 | 13 | 4 | 76 | +1 | |
6. | Southampton | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 62 | +1 | |
7. | Everton | 38 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 57 | +4 | |
8. | Tottenham | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 49 | -3 | |
9. | Aston Villa | 38 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 45 | +8 | |
10. | Hull | 38 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 45 | +8 | |
11. | West Ham | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 44 | +1 | |
12. | Stoke | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 40 | -3 | |
13. | Sunderland | 38 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 40 | +3 | |
14. | West Brom | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 38 | -1 | |
15. | Newcastle | 38 | 7 | 16 | 15 | 37 | 0 | |
16. | Crystal Palace | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 36 | -6 | |
17. | Leicester | 38 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 32 | -3 | |
18. | Burnley | 38 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 32 | +1 | |
19. | Swansea | 38 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 26 | -11 | |
20. | QPR | 38 | 7 | 4 | 27 | 25 | 0 | |
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