Lawro's predictions - FA Cup final special vs Radio 1 DJs Annie Mac and Danny Howard, and Radio 1Xtra's Reece Parkinson.
- Published
You can watch the FA Cup final live on BBC One and the BBC Sport website, with coverage starting at 15:55 BST on Saturday.
Premier League champions Manchester City are looking to complete an unprecedented treble when they face Watford in this weekend's FA Cup final.
Can the Hornets spring a surprise and collect the first major honour in their 121-year history?
Or will City's domestic dominance continue and see Pep Guardiola's side seal another win at Wembley to go with their victories in the Community Shield and the Carabao Cup in 2018-19?
BBC football expert Mark Lawrenson has pitted his wits against a different guest in every round of this season's FA Cup.
For the final he is up against Radio 1 DJs Annie Mac and Danny Howard, and Radio 1Xtra DJ Reece Parkinson.
FA Cup final prediction | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Annie | Danny | Reece | |
SUNDAY | |||||
Man City v Watford | x-x | 2-0 | 2-1 | 3-1 | 4-1 |
Annie will be doing a DJ set live from Wembley before the final and said: "It's been a really interesting and exciting project for all of us on the show.
"Our job is to soundtrack people's lives but the job of sound-tracking one of the biggest games in English football has been a really wonderful challenge."
Danny added: "My heart desperately wants Watford to do this but in the form that City are in and the way they demolished Brighton on the last day of the Premier League season, I can only see this trophy going one way… back up the M6!"
Reece agrees, explaining: "I just can't see Watford getting a result out of this and even giving them a goal is me being nice (sorry Watford fans).
"But I have got Raheem Sterling getting the first then it's the Sergio Aguero show."
LAWRO'S FA CUP FINAL PREDICTION
Kick-off 17:00 BST.
SATURDAY
Watford are a physical side and they will surely try use that to their advantage.
So I would be very surprised if Pep does not pick Vincent Kompany to deal with Hornets striker Troy Deeney, especially because of the part City's captain has played in their run-in.
Kompany was far from a regular earlier in the campaign, even when was fit, but the 33-year-old has started six of their past seven games.
He is not just City's skipper, he is the best out-and-out defender they have, even if they have other defenders who are better than him on the ball.
I am not really expecting any surprises from the rest of the City line-up either.
They have won their past 14 league games to clinch the title and now they want to become the first team to do a domestic treble, so Pep will pick his strongest line-up - there is no point him messing around with it.
It is a little weird that no team has done this treble before, but then only seven different English clubs have done the Double of league title and FA Cup since 1888.
Who has done the Double? | ||
---|---|---|
Team | Number of times | Seasons |
Man Utd | 3 | 1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99 |
Arsenal | 3 | 1970-71. 1997-98, 2001-02 |
Preston | 1 | 1888-89 |
Aston Villa | 1 | 1896-97 |
Tottenham | 1 | 1960-61 |
Liverpool | 1 | 1985-86 |
Chelsea | 1 | 2009-10 |
If City win on Saturday it will be only the 12th time that anyone has achieved the feat in 131 years, and the first since Chelsea in 2009-10.
They already have the Carabao Cup in their trophy cabinet and the Community Shield too, and it is going to take something very special to stop them on Saturday.
Deulofeu could be the wildcard Watford need
Win or lose, it has been a very good campaign for Watford, who have managed to finish the season with the same manager they started it with, which is a massive success by their recent standards.
Joking aside, they look a more settled side because they have stuck with their coach, and also because of his personality. Javi Gracia is very calm and does not get carried away with any individual results - win, lose or draw.
Watford will have Jose Holebas available after his red card in their final-day defeat by West Ham was overturned, and it is a big boost that it looks like Gerard Deulofeu will be fit for their first FA Cup final since 1984.
Deulofeu has started to look like the player Everton thought they were getting when they signed him from Barcelona in 2015, and the Hornets have got quality in the centre of their midfield too in Abdoulaye Doucoure and Etienne Capoue.
Up front, as well as the brawn of Deeney, I like Andre Gray too, who has scored some important late goals for them this season.
To sum them up, I'd describe them as competitive and consistent - that is, most of their players are always a solid 7/10. They don't put in any absolute stinkers the way some other Premier League sides do.
I know they ended the season with three straight defeats, but I think having the FA Cup final on the horizon played a part in that.
It seems they have a little bit of everything in their side but you do feel that, when they play a top-six side, if the top-six side plays well then they will beat them.
Watford vs the Premier League's top-six teams in 2018-19 | ||
---|---|---|
Opponent | Watford at home | Watford away |
Man City | L 1-2 | L 1-3 |
Liverpool | L 0-3 | L 0-5 |
Chelsea | L 1-2 | L 0-3 |
Tottenham | W 2-1 | L 1-2 |
Arsenal | L 0-1 | L 1-2 |
Man Utd | L 1-2 | L 0-2 |
That is certainly what happened this season - a 2-1 home win over Spurs in September was the only occasion they avoided defeat in 12 games against those team in 2018-19
Will Watford repeat Wigan shock?
We know City always have a lot of possession, but people don't always recognise they have got great width, and I am expecting them to really stretch Watford out wide.
Watford won't see much of the ball, and I don't see them creating many chances - so they have to make every set-piece count.
Realistically, though, their chances of success rest on whether they can stop City from scoring.
I know Wigan famously did that in the 2013 FA Cup final and won the game late on, but this feels like a very different situation. This City team are certainly different. They are serial winners, and they know how to get over the line.
I remember when I was at Liverpool, if we got one trophy wrapped up one weekend and had a chance of another the next week, then by the Tuesday we were ready to go again - with the thinking 'let's win this one too, and then we can have a proper party'.
The 2011 FA Cup was the first trophy City won in the modern era, and with four league titles and four league cups following in the past eight years, they have not really looked back since.
This is their first FA Cup final since 2013 but they have been to Wembley four times already this season alone, and I am expecting them to get the same result this time as they did on each of those visits - another win.
Lawro's prediction: Man City 2-0 Watford
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
Lawro's Premier League predictions - the final league table
Lawro made a prediction for all 380 Premier League games this season and the final table based on all of his predictions is at the bottom of this page.
In Lawro's league table, Manchester City finished as champions, with Liverpool in second place.
The Reds did not lose a game in Lawro's league table for a third-successive season, but they actually ended up with fewer points (92) than in the actual table (97).
"People give me stick about never tipping Liverpool to lose but they only lost once in real life, so how good am I?" Lawro told BBC Sport.
"I had them and City down as the two outstanding teams right from the start, which is the main reason I didn't tip either of them to be beaten.
"I wasn't far away with many of the 20 clubs in terms of their league position, but when it came to results, Manchester United were probably the most disappointing side of the season.
"Like most people I expected them to do a lot better, firstly under Jose Mourinho and then at the end of the season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, when their results fell off a cliff.
"My results had them within two points of Liverpool but in reality they were a million miles off that."
Lawro's league tables - 2013-14 to 2017-18
See bottom of page for 2018-19 season.
2017-18
2016-17
2015-16
2014-15
2013-14
Lawro's predictions correctly saw Manchester City win the title in 2014 and 2018... and again this season
How did Lawro do last time?
From the final day of Premier League fixtures, Lawro got four correct results, including one perfect score, for a total of 70 points.
He beat hip hop star Loyle Carner, who got five correct results, but with no perfect scores, for a total of 50 points.
Total scores after week 38 | |
---|---|
Lawro | 3,340 |
Guests | 2,800 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
---|---|---|---|
P38 | W19 | D4 | L15 |
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
POS | TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- |
1 | Man City | 38 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 108 | 0 |
2 | Liverpool | 38 | 27 | 11 | 0 | 92 | 0 |
3 | Man Utd | 38 | 28 | 6 | 4 | 90 | +3 |
4 | Tottenham | 38 | 23 | 11 | 4 | 77 | 0 |
5 | Chelsea | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 73 | -2 |
6 | Leicester | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 66 | +3 |
7 | Arsenal | 38 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 64 | -2 |
8 | Everton | 38 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 62 | 0 |
9 | Wolves | 38 | 16 | 3 | 19 | 51 | -2 |
10 | Burnley | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 50 | +5 |
11 | Newcastle | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 49 | +2 |
12 | West Ham | 38 | 12 | 6 | 20 | 42 | -2 |
13 | Watford | 38 | 11 | 6 | 21 | 39 | -2 |
=14 | Bournemouth | 38 | 10 | 7 | 21 | 37 | 0 |
=14 | Southampton | 38 | 11 | 4 | 23 | 37 | +2 |
16 | Crystal Palace | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 36 | -4 |
=17 | Brighton | 38 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 32 | 0 |
=17 | Fulham | 38 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 32 | +2 |
=19 | Cardiff | 38 | 3 | 6 | 29 | 15 | -1 |
=19 | Huddersfield | 38 | 3 | 6 | 29 | 15 | +1 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2018-19
SCORE | GUEST LEADERBOARD |
---|---|
160 | David Ginola |
140 | The 1975's Ross MacDonald |
120 | Melvin Odoom, Joe Thomas |
110 | Tom Kerridge, Yatez |
90 | Jim Glennie, Mario Hezonja, Karl Pilkington, Chris Stark |
87 | Lawro (average after 38 weeks) |
80 | Adebayo Akinfenwa, Richard Ashcroft, Dina Asher-Smith, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg James, Johnny Marr, Mark Wahlberg |
70 | Matt Fitzpatrick, RED, Yungen |
60 | Jamie Dornan & Paul Conroy, Idris Elba, Tom McFarland, Dolph Lundgren, Mumford & Sons, Dillian Whyte |
50 | Bring Me The Horizon, Loyle Carner, Theo Ellis, Drew McIntyre, Mohamed Sanu, Ten Tonnes, Dolph Ziggler |
40 | Tommy Fleetwood, Tom Grennan, Josh Warrington, Taka |
30 | Ryan Fitzpatrick, Danny Howard, Oti Mabuse, Scott Mills |
20 | Yizzy |
Lawro's best score: 260 points (week seven v Karl Pilkington)
Lawro's worst score: 20 points (week 24 v Grime star Yizzy, week 25 v Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarter-back Ryan Fitzpatrick and Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, and week 31 against Radio 1 DJ Danny Howard)