Premier League predictions: Lawro v athletics star Katarina Johnson-Thompson
- Published
After being taken apart by Manchester City twice in a week, Arsenal are looking to reignite their faint hopes of making the top four this weekend.
Arsene Wenger's travel to Brighton on Sunday - but can they reduce the 10-point gap between themselves and fourth-placed Tottenham?
BBC Sport football expert Mark Lawrenson says: "Arsenal's away form is not great, whoever they are playing.
"The Gunners have already lost at Stoke, Watford, Swansea and Bournemouth this season when they have come up against teams in the bottom half."
Lawro thinks Brighton will get a 1-1 draw at Amex Stadium.
Do you agree? You can make your 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 40 points in week 28, which leaves him in 1,553rd place out of more than 400,000 users.
He will be making a prediction for all 380 top-flight games this season, against a variety of guests.
This week he takes on Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who won pentathlon gold in the World Indoor Athletics Championships on Friday.
The Liverpool fan, who is from the city, loved playing football while at school and had a trial at Everton.
"I turned them down because I was such a big Liverpool fan and they wanted me to go in goal," she said.
For Johnson-Thompson, 25, supporting the Anfield club was a family affair.
"My granddad was a huge Liverpool fan and it was something we bonded over when I was younger and I used to love football."
Her favourite night as a Reds supporter was Liverpool's 2005 Champions League final comeback win over AC Milan in Istanbul. Rafael Benitez's team trailed by three goals at half-time but came back to lift the trophy on penalties after extra time.
"I recall the night so clearly," she said. "I've said it in the past but that game is why I choose never to give up and every Scouser perseveres through everything because we think we can turn it around.
"I remember it so clearly. There is something special about Liverpool and European nights."
Johnson-Thompson is a Liverpool fan and her favourite player is Reds legend Steven Gerrard. She says she is an eternal optimist about her own chances of success in competition because of Liverpool's comeback to win the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul
Premier League predictions - week 29 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Johnson-Thompson | |
THURSDAY | |||
Arsenal v Man City | 0-3 | 0-2 | 3-0* |
SATURDAY | |||
Burnley v Everton | 2-1 | 1-1 | 0-2 |
Leicester v Bournemouth | 1-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 |
Southampton v Stoke | 0-0 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
Swansea v West Ham | 4-1 | 1-1 | 2-1 |
Tottenham v Huddersfield | 2-0 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
Watford v West Brom | 1-0 | 2-1 | 1-1 |
Liverpool v Newcastle | 2-0 | 2-0 | 3-0 |
SUNDAY | |||
Brighton v Arsenal | 2-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
Man City v Chelsea | 1-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
MONDAY | |||
Crystal Palace v Man Utd | 2-3 | 0-2 | 1-0 |
* 'I, Tonya' stars Margot Robbie and Allison Janney predicted the Arsenal v Man City game last week and went for a 3-0 Arsenal win.
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
All kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless otherwise stated.
THURSDAY
Arsenal 0-3 Man City
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Margot & Allison's prediction: 3-0
SATURDAY
Burnley 2-1 Everton
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Katarina's prediction: 0-2 - "Because I root for Liverpool people!"
Swansea 4-1 West Ham
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Katarina's prediction: "Swansea will get an 80th-minute winner." 2-1
Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Katarina's prediction: "Sorry Geordies but I really believe in Klopp." 3-0 #
SUNDAY
Brighton 2-1 Arsenal
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Katarina's prediction: "Every time I go on Twitter the Arsenal fans seem to be moaning." 0-0
Man City 1-0 Chelsea
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Katarina's prediction: "It's a big game but sometimes they're a bit over-hyped these fixtures."1-0
MONDAY
Crystal Palace 2-3 Man Utd
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Katarina's prediction: "Palace are very hard to beat at home. Liverpool fans know that." 1-0
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
From the last round of Premier League games, Lawro got five correct results, with no perfect scores, from nine matches for a total of 50 points.
He drew with Margot Robbie and Allison Janney, stars of film 'I, Tonya', who also got five correct results, with no perfect scores, for a total of 50 points.
Total scores after week 28 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 2,410 |
Guests | 2,090 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P28 | W15 | D4 | L9 |
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- |
1 | Man City | 28 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 73 | 0 |
2 | Man Utd | 28 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 73 | 0 |
3 | Tottenham | 28 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 72 | +1 |
4 | Liverpool | 28 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 64 | -1 |
5 | Chelsea | 28 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 60 | 0 |
6 | Arsenal | 28 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 49 | 0 |
7 | Leicester | 28 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 38 | +1 |
8 | Southampton | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 37 | +8 |
9 | West Brom | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 35 | +11 |
10 | West Ham | 28 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 35 | +3 |
11 | Stoke | 28 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 32 | +8 |
12 | Bournemouth | 28 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 31 | -1 |
13 | Burnley | 28 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 31 | -6 |
14 | Crystal Palace | 28 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 26 | +3 |
15 | Everton | 28 | 6 | 6 | 16 | 24 | -6 |
16 | Newcastle | 28 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 21 | -1 |
17 | Brighton | 28 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 20 | -5 |
18 | Swansea | 28 | 5 | 2 | 21 | 17 | 0 |
19 | Watford | 28 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 15 | -9 |
20 | Huddersfield | 28 | 1 | 9 | 18 | 12 | -6 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD
SCORE | GUEST LEADERBOARD |
|---|---|
160 | Justin Hawkins, Chris Shiflett |
130 | James Anderson*, Joe Johnson* |
120 | Russel Leetch*, Will Poulter, Moeen Ali |
110 | Aron Baynes* |
100 | Cesaro & Seamus, Wretch 32 |
90 | Pete Wentz |
86 | Lawro (average after 28 weeks) |
80 | John Cena, Darren Campbell |
70 | Brendan Foster*, Mark Strong |
60 | Jimmy from Django Django, Will Ferrell, Nish Kumar, Non Stanford, Rick Witter |
50 | Steve Cram, Michael Dapaah, Channing Tatum, Joe Root, Margot Robbie and Allison Janney, Dario Saric, Osi Umenyiora and Jason Bell, |
40 | Craig David, Ed Lay |
30 | Rhys James, Felix White |
20 | Richard Osman, Emmanuel Sanders and Josh Norman |
* Shows weeks where Lawro had more than one guest, and only the highest score contributed to the guest total.
Lawro's best score: 150 points (week eight v Wretch 32 and week 24 v Pete Wentz)
Lawro's worst score: 40 points (week four v Umenyiora and Bell, week five v Non Stanford, week 21 v Darren Campbell, week 23 v Saric and Baynes and week 27 v Robbie and Janney)
- Published25 February 2018
