Premier League predictions: Lawro v England cricket captain Joe Root
- Published
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has not lost any of his five matches against Tottenham since he took charge of the Reds in 2015, but can he continue that impressive record when he takes his team to Wembley?
BBC Sport football expert Mark Lawrenson says: "Liverpool beat Spurs pretty comfortably at Anfield last season and Klopp has got two draws against them at White Hart Lane - including his first game in charge.
"As well as being unbeaten against Tottenham, I think his team have always generally been the better side in those matches.
"Winning at Wembley is a big ask, because Spurs are playing well, but I would back Klopp to come away with something on Sunday."
Lawro is going for a 1-1 draw - do you agree? You can make your own predictions now, take on Lawro and other fans, create your own league and try to make it to the top of the table by playing the new-look BBC Sport Predictor game.
Lawro scored 150 points in week eight, which saw him climb to 3,105th place out of more than 235,000 users.
He will be making a prediction for all 380 top-flight games this season, against a variety of guests.
Lawro's opponent for this weekend's fixtures is England cricket captain Joe Root.
Premier League predictions: Joe Root predicts goals galore in Spurs v Liverpool game
Root is a Sheffield United fan who is enjoying his side's fine start to the season in the Championship, and he also likes to play a bit of football.
The England team often start training sessions with a game of five-a-side, and Root says he likes to get among the goals.
"I would say I am in the Gary Lineker mould," he told BBC Sport. "I stay right at the top and am just basically quite deadly in front of goal.
"There are some really good footballers on the England team - Jos Buttler always does well and Jimmy Anderson has his moments - he can be quite feisty and there is a bit of Dennis Wise in him on occasions, and a bit of Vinnie Jones there as well.
"There are a lot of guys who think they are better than they are, though. Sam Billings is a bit of a show pony - he gives out all the chat and he is a Fifa master but, when it comes to actually playing, he takes too many touches and ruins the flow of the game.
"But it is all good fun and we really enjoy it - it gets us going and it is a great way to start a training session because everyone is right up for it when we come to the cricket."
Root takes aim with a Lineker-like shot
Premier League predictions - week 8 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Root | |
FRIDAY | |||
West Ham v Brighton | 0-3 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
SATURDAY | |||
Chelsea v Watford | 4-2 | 2-0 | 3-0 |
Huddersfield v Man Utd | 2-1 | 0-2 | 1-2 |
Man City v Burnley | 3-0 | 3-0 | 4-1 |
Newcastle v Crystal Palace | 1-0 | 2-1 | 2-0 |
Stoke v Bournemouth | 1-2 | 1-1 | 1-1 |
Swansea v Leicester | 1-2 | 2-1 | 2-2 |
Southampton v West Brom | 1-0 | 2-1 | 2-1 |
SUNDAY | |||
Everton v Arsenal | 2-5 | 1-1 | 2-1 |
Tottenham v Liverpool | 4-1 | 1-1 | 3-2 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
Remember you can try to beat Lawro by playing the BBC Sport Predictor game.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
All kick-offs 15:00 BST unless otherwise stated.
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Man City 3-0 Burnley
Lawro's prediction: 3-0
Root's prediction: Apologies to [Burnley fan] Jimmy Anderson, but I am going for a big City win. 4-1
SUNDAY
How did Lawro do last time?
Last week, Lawro got six correct results, including four perfect scores, from 10 matches, for a total of 150 points.
He beat rapper Wretch 32, who got four results correct with two perfect scores, for a total of 100 points.
Total scores after week 8 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 720 |
Guests | 610 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P8 | W4 | D0 | L4 |
SCORE | GUEST LEADERBOARD |
|---|---|
160 | Chris Shiflett |
120 | Will Poulter |
100 | Wretch 32 |
90 | Lawro (average after eight weeks) |
70 | Brendan Foster*, Mark Strong |
60 | Non Stanford |
50 | Steve Cram, Channing Tatum, Osi Umenyiora and Jason Bell |
*Foster and Cram both provided predictions on week one, but only Foster's score contributes to the guest total.
Lawro's best score: 150 points (week eight v Wretch 32)
Lawro's worst score: 40 points (week four v Umenyiora and Bell, and week five v Non Stanford)
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- |
1 | Man Utd | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 22 | +1 |
2 | Tottenham | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 22 | +1 |
3 | Man City | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | -2 |
4 | Arsenal | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | +2 |
5 | Liverpool | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 16 | +3 |
6 | Chelsea | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 | -1 |
7 | Bournemouth | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | +12 |
8 | Southampton | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | +3 |
9 | Leicester | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 | +9 |
10 | West Ham | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 | +5 |
11 | Swansea | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 9 | +2 |
12 | Burnley | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -5 |
13 | Everton | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | +3 |
14 | Crystal Palace | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | +6 |
15 | West Brom | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | -5 |
16 | Stoke | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | +1 |
17 | Brighton | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | -3 |
18 | Watford | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | -14 |
19 | Huddersfield | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | -7 |
20 | Newcastle | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 3 | -11 |