Premier League predictions: Lawro v Sunderland fan Steve Cram
- Published
BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson is pitting his wits against a different guest each week this season.
Lawro's opponent for this weekend's Premier League fixtures is former world champion athlete Steve Cram.
As the BBC's chief athletics commentator, Cram will be covering this week's World Indoor Championships in the United States.
But, as a die-hard Sunderland fan, he will also be following updates from Sunday's north-east derby at St James' Park.
Steve (left) aged 12 and his younger brother Kevin with the FA Cup after Sunderland beat Leeds in the 1973 final
Cram told BBC Sport: "We have to win, but both teams need to win - it's a nine-pointer if there is such a thing.
"I think it will be very tight on the day because both teams will be under an awful lot of pressure."
You can hear more of his tales of supporting the Black Cats on Football Focus at 12:10 GMT on Saturday on BBC One and the BBC Sport website.
Premier League predictions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Week 31 | Result | Lawro | Cram |
SATURDAY | |||
Everton v Arsenal | 0-2 | 1-1 | 1-2 |
Chelsea v West Ham | 2-2 | 1-1 | 2-2 |
Crystal Palace v Leicester | 0-1 | 2-1 | 0-2 |
Watford v Stoke | 1-2 | 2-1 | 0-0 |
West Brom v Norwich | 0-1 | 2-0 | 2-1 |
Swansea v Aston Villa | 1-0 | 2-0 | 0-1 |
SUNDAY | |||
Newcastle v Sunderland | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-1 |
Southampton v Liverpool | 3-2 | 2-1 | 3-2 |
Man City v Man Utd | 0-1 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
Tottenham v Bournemouth | 3-0 | 2-1 | 3-2 |
Our scoring system has changed this season and a correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is now worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
From last weekend's Premier League games, Lawro got three correct results from five matches, with one perfect score for a total of 60 points.
He was beaten by world champion boxer Carl Frampton, who got all five results correct, with one perfect score.
That gives Frampton a score so far of 80 points, and he can add to that tally when the five Premier League games that were postponed because of the FA Cup quarter-finals are played.
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 BBC Sport Predictor game.
Total scores after week 30 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 2,010 |
Guests | 1,560 |
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
All kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless otherwise stated
SATURDAY
Everton 0-2 Arsenal
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Cram's prediction: This is a tough one - Everton have been struggling at home in the league, while Arsenal's season is sort of falling apart. Maybe the Gunners might have something to prove here. 1-2
Chelsea 2-2 West Ham
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Cram's prediction: West Ham have been great away from home, while I am not sure what has been wrong with Chelsea this season. The Hammers to win? I was going to say 3-2, but I actually think it will be a 2-2 draw.
Crystal Palace 0-1 Leicester
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Cram's prediction: Being a Sunderland fan I am not sure Palace are safe yet and would love them to be dragged into the relegation battle. I want Leicester to win the title and my heart and my head says 0-2.
Watford 1-2 Stoke
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Cram's prediction: Is this a candidate for last game on Match of the Day? Probably. 0-0
West Brom 0-1 Norwich
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Cram's prediction: Norwich are in desperate trouble at the bottom of the table. West Brom are playing quite well at the moment and my uncle Bobby Cram used to play for them in the 1960s so I have always been a pseudo Baggies fan. 2-1
Swansea 1-0 Aston Villa
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Cram's prediction: Maybe Villa will start to play now they are pretty much down. 0-1
SUNDAY
Newcastle 1-1 Sunderland
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Cram's prediction: What do I say? Six derby wins in a row for Sunderland and I would love to see a seventh, but each time I have been left thinking we can't win another one. That is kind of what I am thinking this time but my heart obviously wants us to win it - and, if we do get a goal, I don't care if it comes in the 93rd minute. 0-1, hopefully.
Southampton 3-2 Liverpool
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Cram's prediction: Saints will make sure they won't leak as many goals this time. 3-2
Man City 0-1 Man Utd
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Cram's prediction: City are in a better place at the moment and I think it will be a fairly comfortable day for them. 2-0
Tottenham 3-0 Bournemouth
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Cram's prediction: Bournemouth are safe so can relax, so I can see a few goals in this one. 3-2
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P30 | W18 | D6 | L6 |
SCORE | GUEST LEADERBOARD |
|---|---|
110 | Nick Bright, Sam Tomkins, SAM Super Computer |
100 | Wealdstone Raider |
90 | Ice Cube & Kevin Hart, Amir Khan |
80 | Carl Frampton* |
70 | Guy Mowbray, Osi Umenyiora |
67 | Lawro (average after 30 weeks) |
60 | Stuart Broad, Tim Burgess, Ed Skrein |
50 | Mark Radcliffe, Jack Whitehall, Felix White |
40 | Fatman Scoop, Neville, Mumford & Sons, Michael B Jordan & Tony Bellew. James Skelly |
30 | Darren Campbell, Luol Deng, Blake Harrison & Daniel Mays, Mark Webber, Steve Wilson |
20 | Nobby Butcher*, Graeme Swann |
10 | Elis James, Paul Heaton, Kelly Jones |
*Does not include score for postponed games
Lawro's best score: 160 points (week 19 v Guy Mowbray)
Lawro's worst score: 20 points (week one v Graeme Swann & week 23 v Ice Cube and Kevin Hart)
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND REAL TABLE | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- |
1 | Man City | 29 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 72 | +3 |
2 | Arsenal | 29 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 69 | +1 |
3 | Chelsea | 29 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 67 | +7 |
4 | Liverpool | 28 | 15 | 13 | 0 | 58 | +4 |
5 | Tottenham | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 52 | -3 |
6 | Southampton | 30 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 51 | +1 |
7 | West Brom | 29 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 50 | +4 |
8 | Man Utd | 29 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 48 | -2 |
9 | Crystal Palace | 29 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 41 | +6 |
10 | Everton | 28 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 38 | +2 |
11 | Newcastle | 29 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 35 | +8 |
12 | Stoke | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 33 | -3 |
13 | Bournemouth | 30 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 32 | 0 |
14 | Norwich | 30 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 32 | +4 |
15 | Leicester | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 31 | -14 |
16 | Swansea | 30 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 27 | 0 |
17 | Sunderland | 29 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 25 | 0 |
18 | West Ham | 29 | 4 | 8 | 17 | 20 | -13 |
19 | Watford | 29 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 16 | -5 |
20. | Aston Villa | 30 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 6 | 0 |
- Published20 June 2016
- Published7 June 2019
