Lawro's Premier League predictions v tennis legend Boris Becker
- 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 guests.
Lawro's opponent for this week's fixtures is tennis legend Boris Becker.
The three-time Wimbledon champion and former coach of Novak Djokovic says he has an allegiance with three English teams, as well as Bayern Munich.
Becker is backing Chelsea to beat Crystal Palace on Saturday and make it 11 Premier League wins in a row
The German explained: "Bayern are my favourite team, and not only because I was on their board of directors for 10 years.
"When I was living in Munich, I became good friends with my hero Franz Beckenbauer, plus people like Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and many of the Bayern players, and my knowledge of football is a bit better than your average tennis professional.
"My favourite English team is Chelsea. The reason for that is I used to have a flat in Chelsea, and I befriended Frank Lampard.
"He said that before going to watch any other team I should come to Stamford Bridge because I was going to become a Blue. That was about 15 years ago, and I have stuck with it.
'Schweinsteiger deserves a spot in Man Utd's midfield'
"I live in Wimbledon now so AFC Wimbledon are my local club. I went to a couple of games and I met the president and I support them and hopefully they will get better and come back to the Premier League.
"And Tottenham are another team I follow. I must say hello to my neighbour, Bill, who is a die-hard Spurs fan and I have been to the Lane a couple of times."
You can make your Premier League predictions now, compare them with those of Lawro and other fans, and try to take your team to the top of the leaderboard by playing the BBC Sport Predictor game.
Premier League predictions - week 17 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Boris | |
SATURDAY | |||
Crystal Palace v Chelsea | 0-1 | 1-1 | 1-2 |
Middlesbrough v Swansea | 3-0 | 2-0 | 3-1 |
Stoke v Leicester | 2-2 | 1-2 | 1-0 |
Sunderland v Watford | 1-0 | 2-1 | 1-0 |
West Ham v Hull | 1-0 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
West Brom v Man Utd | 0-2 | 0-2 | 1-2 |
SUNDAY | |||
Bournemouth v Southampton | 1-3 | 2-0 | 1-1 |
Man City v Arsenal | 2-1 | 1-1 | 2-1 |
Tottenham v Burnley | 2-1 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
MONDAY | |||
Everton v Liverpool | x-x | 1-1 | 1-1 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
For the midweek Premier League games, Lawro got six correct results, with two perfect scores, from 10 Premier League matches. That gave him a total of 120 points.
He beat Fighting Talk host Colin Murray, who also got six correct results, but with one perfect score, for a total of 90 points.
Total scores after week 16 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 1,400 |
Guests | 1,240 |
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
All kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless otherwise stated.
SATURDAY
Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Boris's prediction: Palace are struggling a little bit and Chelsea are on a roll. The momentum is with them and I think they will keep it going. 1-2
Middlesbrough 3-0 Swansea
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Boris's prediction: Both teams are struggling a little bit but I'm going for Boro to win at home. 3-1
Stoke 2-2 Leicester
Lawro's prediction: 1-2
Boris's prediction: Leicester are doing very well in the Champions League but struggling a bit in the Premier League, especially away. Stoke are in better form. 1-0
West Ham 1-0 Hull
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Boris's prediction: It's a surprise for me that West Ham are not doing too well, but I believe in Slaven Bilic and his players. 2-0
West Brom 0-2 Man Utd
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Boris's prediction: West Brom, at home, are a difficult team to play. Pulis is a very good manager, and his teams are very well organised. But United will win if they come out of their shells. 1-2
SUNDAY
Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Boris's prediction: This is the game of the weekend. For me City are the title favourites, I know Pep from Bayern Munich and he is a great guy and a great manager.
Arsenal are not doing too bad either, though. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has a very strong team but I believe City will win at home. 2-1
Tottenham 2-1 Burnley
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Boris's prediction: I think Spurs are a force, especially at home, and they are going to win. 2-0
MONDAY
Everton v Liverpool (20:00 GMT)
Anyone who has even been to a Merseyside derby under the lights will tell you it is always a fantastic atmosphere in the stands and a bit gladiatorial on the pitch, too.
Liverpool are always quick and close the opposition down. Well, on Monday, you have to feel Everton should do the same.
There was a period in their win over Arsenal that Everton got a few big tackles in. That got the whole stadium going and from then on they were up and running.
That will happen from the first second on Saturday, which is why referee Mike Dean could play as big a part as any of the players.
Referees - most red cards in the Premier League 2016-17* | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Referee | Games | Red cards | Red cards per game |
1. Mike Dean | 12 | 3 | 0.25 |
2. Anthony Taylor | 14 | 3 | 0.21 |
3. Mark Clattenburg | 11 | 2 | 0.18 |
4. Jon Moss | 12 | 2 | 0.17 |
5. Lee Mason | 8 | 1 | 0.13 |
*Five games or more | |||
I think Dean is a very good referee but he has shown more red cards per game than any other official to be in charge of more than five Premier League matches this season,, external and how he handles those challenges - from both teams - will be a huge factor.
These are always just absolutely mad games and, whoever is top or bottom, form has absolutely no bearing on the outcome.
I am going to go with a draw, purely because I don't know what is going to happen.
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Boris's prediction: What a classic. I can't wait. Everton, with Ronald Koeman at the helm, had a good win over Arsenal on Tuesday - but here I have got to support my countryman Jurgen Klopp. I think his Liverpool side are going to get a draw, at least. 1-1
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P16 | W10 | D0 | L6 |
SCORE | GUEST LEADERBOARD |
|---|---|
150 | Elis James |
130 | Tim Vine |
120 | Robbie Williams |
110 | Michael van Gerwen |
100 | Joe Clarke |
90 | Colin Murray |
88 | Lawro (average after 16 weeks) |
80 | Nicole Scherzinger |
70 | Dave Bautista, Sam Burgess, Athletico Mince |
60 | Rick Astley |
50 | Charlie Sloth, Laura Kenny |
40 | Ed Balls |
30 | Blossoms |
20 | Lloyd Griffith |
Lawro's best score: 160 points (week thirteen v Tim Vine)
Lawro's worst score: 30 points (week four v Dave Bautista)
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- |
1 | Liverpool | 16 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 42 | +1 |
2 | Arsenal | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 38 | +1 |
3 | Chelsea | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 38 | -2 |
4 | Man City | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 38 | 0 |
5 | Man Utd | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 37 | +1 |
6 | Leicester | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 32 | +8 |
7 | Tottenham | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 30 | -2 |
8 | Everton | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 25 | 0 |
9 | West Ham | 16 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 22 | +6 |
10 | Stoke | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 20 | +2 |
11 | Crystal Palace | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 19 | +5 |
12 | West Brom | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 15 | -5 |
13 | Sunderland | 16 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 14 | +7 |
14 | Southampton | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 13 | -5 |
15 | Bournemouth | 16 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 12 | -5 |
16 | Burnley | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | -3 |
17 | Middlesbrough | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 0 |
18 | Watford | 16 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 9 | -7 |
19 | Swansea | 16 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 7 | -1 |
20 | Hull | 16 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 1 | -1 |
- Published15 December 2016
- Published15 December 2016
- Published15 December 2016
