Premier League predictions: Lawro v comedian Elis James
- Published
Will Manchester City's bad week get even worse when they go to Wembley on Saturday night?
In-form Tottenham will be trying to inflict more misery on Pep Guardiola's side, who failed to wrap up the Premier League title last weekend and are out of the Champions League too.
BBC Sport football expert Mark Lawrenson says: "The wide open spaces of Wembley will suit City but I have a sneaking feeling that they will drop more points against Spurs."
Lawro is going for a 1-1 draw. 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 BBC Sport Predictor game.
He will be making a prediction for all 380 top-flight games this season, against a variety of guests.
This week he takes on comedian Elis James.
Elis James shows off his collection of Swansea and Wales football shirts when he plays Owen in BBC Three sitcom Josh. He says he is just going to enjoy this summer's World Cup as a neutral, explaining: "Wales have not qualified for 60 years so it means nothing to me, other than as a feast of football."
James is a Swansea fan, who interviewed the Welsh club's boss Carlos Carvalhal for this week's The Premier League Show.
"It is very sad that we are fighting relegation for a third season on the trot but I was hugely impressed with Carlos," James told BBC Sport.
"I think he is a fantastic manager and it has been miraculous what he has done since coming in at Christmas - so fingers crossed we will be OK."
Premier League Show: Firefighting Premier League survival - Carvahal
Swansea were bottom of the table when Carvalhal was appointed on 28 December but are now 15th, four points above the relegation zone with six games remaining.
James added: "I must admit, when Carlos took over I knew he was manager of Sheffield Wednesday and I knew they had got to the Championship play-offs last season, but that was it.
"I looked at his Wikipedia page and he had been at a long list of clubs that you have heard of from the Europa League.
"But in terms of what he has done for Swansea, I could not have asked for anything more. I think he has been superb.
"I really thought we were doomed this time, so I am absolutely thrilled with the way it has worked out because our destiny is now in our own hands.
"Jordan Ayew has been one of our standout players this season, certainly since Carlos took over, and obviously Alfie Mawson, who I think is a wonderful footballer and fully deserving of his England cap."
You can listen to more on Swansea and Welsh football from Elis James in his Feast of Football podcast with Danny Gabbidon and Iwan Roberts, here.
Premier League predictions - week 34 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Elis | |
SATURDAY | |||
Southampton v Chelsea | 2-3 | 1-1 | 1-2 |
Burnley v Leicester | 2-1 | 2-1 | 1-0 |
Crystal Palace v Brighton | 3-2 | 2-1 | 2-2 |
Huddersfield v Watford | 1-0 | 1-1 | 1-2 |
Swansea v Everton | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-0 |
Liverpool v Bournemouth | 3-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
Tottenham v Man City | 1-3 | 1-1 | 2-1 |
SUNDAY | |||
Newcastle v Arsenal | x-x | 1-1 | 1-0 |
Man Utd v West Brom | x-x | 3-0 | 3-0 |
MONDAY | |||
West Ham v Stoke | x-x | 2-0 | 2-1 |
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 BST unless otherwise stated.
SATURDAY
Burnley 2-1 Leicester
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Elis' prediction: Burnley are a difficult prospect at home. 1-0
Crystal Palace 3-2 Brighton
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Elis' prediction: This is one of the odder derbies. 2-2
Swansea 1-1 Everton
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Elis' prediction: It did not go brilliantly for Swansea against West Brom last weekend when we only got a draw, but I do fancy us to beat Everton (takes deep breath). 1-0
Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Elis' prediction: I will be fascinated to see how Liverpool react after what happened against City on Tuesday night. 1-0
Tottenham 1-3 Man City
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Elis' prediction: Again, I am fascinated to see how City react to going out of the Champions League, and Tottenham are playing very well at the moment. City's season will be in tatters if they lose this game too. 2-1
SUNDAY
Newcastle 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal have won their past six games in all competitions but that is what they always seem to do at this stage of the season, when the pressure is off them.
Newcastle are also on a good run, winning three in a row. They are pretty much safe now and are in the top half, which is great for them because most of this season has been a slog.
Arsene Wenger says Europa League is Arsenal's focus
I am going to go for a draw but it is hard to predict a result for this one because I have no idea what sort of team Arsene Wenger will put out after Thursday's trip to Moscow.
Winning the Europa League to get into the Champions League is obviously the priority for the Gunners now.
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Elis' prediction: 1-0
Man Utd 0-1 West Brom
West Brom could go down if Saturday's results go against them and then they lose this game.
It is hard to see anything but a defeat for the Baggies at Old Trafford but, more pertinently, I want to know which Manchester United team we are going to see - the one from the first half at Etihad Stadium, or the one from the second half.
After the break, when United roared back from 2-0 down to win the derby, it appeared they were just let off the leash, which manager Jose Mourinho does not normally do.
They looked very good and players like Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba came alive. United fans will want to see more of the same.
Lawro's prediction: 3-0
Elis' prediction: 3-0
MONDAY
West Ham 1-1 Stoke
Things are pretty rosy for West Ham at the moment after their point at Chelsea gave them a bit of breathing space above the bottom three.
If the Hammers win this game they are virtually safe, while Stoke would be left in all sorts of trouble. Things look bad enough for them already.
Paul Lambert believes Potters need three wins to survive relegations
The Potters need to start winning games but they just don't have enough firepower in their side and they are not good enough defensively to buy themselves time to nick a goal.
In contrast, West Ham carry a threat at the moment through Marko Arnautovic, who is flying after making a slow start.
He will not need any extra motivation to continue his good form against his former club.
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Elis' prediction: 2-1
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last week?
From the last round of Premier League games, Lawro got four correct results, including one perfect score, from 10 matches for a total of 70 points.
He beat comedian Russell Howard, who got two correct results, including one perfect score, for a total of 50 points.
Total scores after week 33 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 2,930 |
Guests | 2,470 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P33 | W19 | D3 | L11 |
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- |
1 | Man City | 32 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 83 | 0 |
2 | Man Utd | 32 | 25 | 6 | 1 | 81 | 0 |
3 | Tottenham | 32 | 25 | 6 | 1 | 81 | +1 |
4 | Liverpool | 33 | 20 | 13 | 0 | 73 | -1 |
5 | Chelsea | 32 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 69 | 0 |
6 | Arsenal | 32 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 59 | 0 |
7 | Leicester | 32 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 48 | +1 |
8 | Bournemouth | 33 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 40 | +3 |
9 | Southampton | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 40 | +9 |
10 | West Ham | 32 | 8 | 16 | 8 | 40 | +4 |
11 | West Brom | 33 | 11 | 6 | 16 | 39 | +9 |
12 | Burnley | 32 | 9 | 10 | 13 | 37 | -5 |
13 | Stoke | 33 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 33 | +6 |
14 | Everton | 33 | 7 | 9 | 17 | 30 | -5 |
15 | Crystal Palace | 33 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 28 | +2 |
16 | Newcastle | 32 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 27 | -6 |
17 | Brighton | 32 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 25 | -4 |
18 | Swansea | 32 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 19 | -3 |
19 | Watford | 33 | 4 | 6 | 24 | 18 | -7 |
20 | Huddersfield | 33 | 1 | 11 | 21 | 14 | -4 |
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 | Arni and Justin from The Vaccines, Pete Wentz |
89 | Lawro (average after 33 weeks) |
80 | John Cena, Darren Campbell |
70 | John Bishop** Brendan Foster*, Mark Strong |
60 | Jimmy from Django Django, Will Ferrell, Nish Kumar, Non Stanford, Rick Witter |
50 | Steve Cram, Michael Dapaah, Russell Howard, 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 | Charlie Cooper, 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.
** Shows weeks where guest total does not include rearranged games.
Lawro's best score: 170 points (week 30 v Arni and Justin from The Vaccines)
Lawro's worst score: 40 points (week four v Umenyiora and Bell, week five v Non Stanford, week 21 v Darren Campbell and week 23 v Saric and Baynes)