Premier League predictions: Lawro v Sunderland fan Steve Cram

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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.

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.

Image caption,

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

Match report

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.

Match report

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.

Match report

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

Match report

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

Match report

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

Match report

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.

Match report

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

Match report

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

Match report

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

Match report

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

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