Premier League predictions: Lawro v boxer & Man Utd fan Anthony Crolla
- 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 boxer Anthony Crolla.
Crolla, who is looking to regain his WBA lightweight title when he fights Jorge Linares in Manchester on 25 March, is a Manchester United fan who says his all-time favourite player is Eric Cantona.
"Growing up, I absolutely idolised 'The King' and everything he did," Crolla told BBC Sport. "When I played at school, my collar would always be up like Eric's. Before any boxer, he was my first childhood hero.
"As I got older I was a big Paul Scholes fan as well - I think he is appreciated more now than he was back in the day - but Cantona is still the greatest."
Who would win in a boxing match between Rooney and Zlatan?
United striker Wayne Rooney is well known for his love of boxing, external but how does Crolla think the England captain would do in a bout with team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
"It is hard to go against Zlatan but I might do here," Crolla explained. "I know Zlatan is big into mixed martial arts and would have a bit of height and reach on Wayne, but he would not be able to use his feet.
"It would be a great fight because the pair of them have got great attributes for being a boxer, but I've seen Wayne hit the pads first-hand and, honestly, he can punch.
"Wayne comes from a boxing background too so I would go with him. I know he can box a bit."
Wayne Rooney's uncle ran a boxing gym and he used to train there as a boy - but his football career meant he hung up his gloves at the age of 15
You can make your Premier League predictions now and compare them with those of Lawro and other fans by playing the BBC Sport Predictor game.
Premier League predictions - week 29 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Crolla | |
SATURDAY | |||
West Brom v Arsenal | 3-1 | 1-1 | 1-0 |
Crystal Palace v Watford | 1-0 | 2-0 | 1-1 |
Everton v Hull City | 4-0 | 2-0 | 3-0 |
Stoke City v Chelsea | 1-2 | 0-2 | 2-2 |
Sunderland v Burnley | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-2 |
West Ham v Leicester | 2-3 | 0-2 | 1-1 |
Bournemouth v Swansea | 2-0 | 2-1 | 2-0 |
SUNDAY | |||
Middlesbrough v Man Utd | 1-3 | 1-1 | 0-2 |
Tottenham v Southampton | 2-1 | 2-0 | 0-0 |
Man City v Liverpool | 1-1 | 1-1 | 3-2 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
Total scores after week 28 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 2,600 |
Guests | 2,050 |
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
All kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless otherwise stated.
SATURDAY
West Brom 3-1 Arsenal
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Crolla's prediction: This is a tough away game for Arsenal. I think they are feeling the pressure lately so I'm going for a bit of an upset here. 1-0
SUNDAY
Man City 1-1 Liverpool
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Crolla's prediction: 3-2
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P28 | W19 | D0 | L9 |
SCORE | GUEST LEADERBOARD |
|---|---|
150 | Elis James |
130 | Boris Becker, James McAvoy, Tim Vine |
120 | Robbie Williams |
110 | Michael van Gerwen |
100 | Joe Clarke, Osi Umenyiora |
93 | Lawro (average after 28 weeks*) |
90 | Josh Franceschi, Colin Murray |
80 | David Gower, Loyle Carner, Nicole Scherzinger |
70 | Dave Bautista, Sam Burgess, Athletico Mince |
60 | Rick Astley |
50 | Martin Kemp*, Charlie Sloth, Laura Kenny |
40 | Ed Balls |
30 | Michael Bisping, Blossoms, Full Time DEVILS*, American hip-hop duo Run The Jewels |
20 | Moeen Ali, Lloyd Griffith |
10 | CFC Fan TV* |
*Does not include scores from postponed games.
Lawro's best score: 140 points (week 22 v James McAvoy)
Lawro's worst score: 20 points (week 28, but only five games played so far) or 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 | 28 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 68 | +3 |
2 | Man City | 27 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 65 | +1 |
3 | Chelsea | 27 | 19 | 4 | 4 | 61 | -2 |
4 | Man Utd | 26 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 61 | +2 |
5 | Arsenal | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 60 | 0 |
6 | Tottenham | 27 | 16 | 8 | 3 | 56 | -4 |
7 | Leicester | 27 | 16 | 6 | 5 | 54 | +8 |
8 | Everton | 28 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 38 | -1 |
9 | West Brom | 28 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 36 | -1 |
10 | Crystal Palace | 27 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 34 | +7 |
11 | Stoke | 28 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 32 | -2 |
12 | West Ham | 28 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 32 | -1 |
13 | Sunderland | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 28 | +7 |
14 | Bournemouth | 28 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 25 | 0 |
15 | Middlesbrough | 27 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 19 | +4 |
16 | Burnley | 28 | 3 | 9 | 16 | 18 | -4 |
17 | Southampton | 26 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 18 | -7 |
18 | Watford | 27 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 18 | -5 |
19 | Swansea | 28 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 16 | -3 |
20 | Hull | 28 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 4 | -2 |
How did Lawro do last week?
Lawro picked the correct winners of all four of last weekend's FA Cup quarter-finals and was spot on with the scoreline of Manchester City's win over Middlesbrough, giving him a total of 70 points.
Lawro was up against Sophie Rose, external from Chelsea supporter channel CFC Fan TV, external and Manchester United followers Adam McKola, external and Stephen Howson, external from Full Time DEVILS., external
He came out on top because Sophie got four correct results with no perfect scores for 40 points, while the Full Time DEVILS picked three correct results with no perfect scores, giving them 30 points.
FA Cup leaderboard after quarter-finals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Correct results | (Perfect scores) | Total | Success rate | |
1. = A.Dot | 10/16 | (4) | 220 | 34% |
1. = ArsenalFan TV | 5/8 | (2) | 110 | 34% |
3. Adele Roberts | 8/16 | (3) | 170 | 27% |
4. CFC Fan TV | 4/4 | (0) | 40 | 25% |
5. Lawro | 28/60 | (7) | 490 | 20% |
6. Full Time Devils | 3/4 | (0) | 30 | 19% |
7. Blue Moon Rising TV | 14/32 | (3) | 230 | 18% |
8. Spurred On | 12/32 | (2) | 180 | 14% |
9. Fulhamish | 4/8 | (0) | 40 | 13% |
10. Reev | 12/32 | (0) | 120 | 9% |
Lawro was also up against Sophie and the Full Time DEVILS for the weekend's five Premier League games, including Manchester City's draw with Stoke which was rearranged to midweek.
Lawro got two correct results, with no perfect scores, for a total of 20 points.
As things stand, he is ahead of Sophie (one correct result, no perfect scores = 10 points) but behind the Full Time DEVILS (three correct results, no perfect scores = 30 points) but their full tally will not be known until the games postponed because of the FA Cup are played.