Premier League final-day predictions: Lawro v singer and Newcastle fan James Bay
- Published
Champions League qualification is up for grabs when Leicester host Manchester United on Sunday, but who will end up in the top four?
A draw on the final day of the Premier League season will be enough for both teams if Chelsea lose to Wolves but, if the Blues win their game, then Leicester need a victory to overhaul United and claim a place at European football's top table.
"I don't see United being beaten," said BBC football expert Mark Lawrenson. "Leicester were already without James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira through injury but having Caglar Soyuncu suspended is a big miss for them at the back.
"They are not the same without him. Wes Morgan has been great for the Foxes but, at 36, can he really deal with the pace of United's front three?"
Lawro has made predictions for all 380 top-flight matches this season, against a variety of guests.
This week he is up against singer and Newcastle fan James Bay, whose new track Chew On My Heart is out now.
When Bay took on Lawro in 2018, he explained why he was a Newcastle fan, saying: "When I was six, Alan Shearer played for Newcastle - and that was it, really. I grew up in a town that is sort of near teams like Arsenal and Tottenham, but not near enough for me to feel like that was my club. In the middle of the 1990s, Newcastle were up there, and Shearer had just signed for them. For that reason alone, myself and my brother as well were just like - he is the man, so Newcastle is the team."
Like most Magpies supporters, Bay is waiting for news on whether a Saudi Arabia-led £300m takeover of the club will be allowed to go ahead.
"We are massively in limbo at the moment," Bay told BBC Sport. "The fans just want someone to give us a 'yes' or 'no', and tell us whether it is happening or not.
"It is tantalising because we all know what the club would be capable of if we had ambitious owners - but all we really want is the opportunity to buy better players and that has not really been the case for the past few years.
"We already have some great talent in our squad - look at how the fans have got behind Allan Saint-Maximin this season, just as one example - and there is a hunger in so many of our players.
"I would just love for us to be able to build on that next season, to bring in bigger and better signings that will develop the team instead of just treading water again.
"We have been safe from relegation for a few weeks now, but we should be aiming for a lot more than that.
"As a fan, I am always going to think we should be in the top 10 at the very least but, for now, the difficult tale continues.
"To hear us described as a 'sleeping giant' is bittersweet because 'giant' speaks to the potential and the greatness that is under the surface - but the sleeping bit is so frustrating, because that's the bit that carries on."
There has been plenty of speculation about who Newcastle might buy this summer but who would be Bay's dream signing? "If it was a player who I think we could get, I'd like it to be Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona," he said. "There has already been a lot of talk about him coming and I wonder if he just really enjoyed it in the Premier League when he was with Liverpool and he could come back to life with us. It almost seems possible we could maybe sign him without a takeover, and I think that's the most optimistic mindset I can really be in at the moment as a Newcastle fan."
Premier League predictions - week 38 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | James | |
SUNDAY | |||
Arsenal v Watford | 3-2 | 2-0 | 2-1 |
Burnley v Brighton | 1-2 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
Chelsea v Wolves | 2-0 | 2-1 | 3-2 |
Crystal Palace v Tottenham | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0-2 |
Everton v Bournemouth | 1-3 | 2-0 | 3-0 |
Leicester v Man Utd | 0-2 | 1-2 | 1-1 |
Man City v Norwich | 5-0 | 4-0 | 4-0 |
Newcastle v Liverpool | 1-3 | 0-2 | 0-3 |
Southampton v Sheff Utd | 3-1 | 2-0 | 2-2 |
West Ham v Aston Villa | 1-1 | 2-0 | 0-1 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
All games kick off at 16:00 BST.
SUNDAY
Arsenal 3-2 Watford
Burnley 1-2 Brighton
Chelsea 2-0 Wolves
Crystal Palace 1-1 Tottenham
Everton 1-3 Bournemouth
Leicester 0-2 Man Utd
Man City 5-0 Norwich
Newcastle 1-3 Liverpool
Southampton 3-1 Sheff Utd
West Ham 1-1 Aston Villa
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
James' prediction: 0-1
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
From the last round of 10 Premier League games, that ran from Saturday to Wednesday, Lawro got six correct results, including two exact scores, for a total of 120 points.
That meant he beat Doves frontman and Manchester City supporter Jimi Goodwin, who got four correct results, including two correct scores, for a total of 100 points.
And he also outscored Future Islands frontman Samuel T Herring, who got one correct result from the seven midweek games he made a prediction for, meaning he is - slightly unfairly - bottom of our guest leaderboard for the season with a score of 10 points.
"He's an Everton fan, so I don't feel that sorry for him," said Lawro.
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
1 | Man City | 37 | 34 | 2 | 1 | 104 | +1 |
2 | Liverpool | 37 | 32 | 5 | 0 | 101 | -1 |
3 | Tottenham | 37 | 25 | 7 | 5 | 82 | +4 |
4 | Chelsea | 37 | 25 | 6 | 6 | 81 | 0 |
5 | Man Utd | 37 | 19 | 9 | 9 | 66 | -2 |
6 | Leicester | 37 | 19 | 7 | 11 | 64 | -1 |
7 | Wolves | 37 | 18 | 5 | 14 | 59 | -1 |
8 | Arsenal | 37 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 55 | +2 |
9 | Burnley | 37 | 15 | 6 | 16 | 51 | 0 |
10 | West Ham | 37 | 14 | 7 | 16 | 49 | +5 |
11 | Everton | 37 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 45 | 0 |
12 | Watford | 37 | 13 | 5 | 19 | 44 | +6 |
13 | Bournemouth | 37 | 12 | 3 | 22 | 39 | +6 |
14 | Aston Villa | 37 | 10 | 8 | 19 | 38 | +3 |
15 | Newcastle | 37 | 9 | 8 | 20 | 35 | -2 |
16 | Sheff Utd | 37 | 8 | 9 | 20 | 33 | -8 |
17 | Southampton | 37 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 31 | -5 |
=18 | Brighton | 37 | 8 | 3 | 26 | 27 | -2 |
=18 | Crystal Palace | 37 | 6 | 9 | 22 | 27 | -4 |
20 | Norwich | 37 | 3 | 8 | 26 | 16 | 0 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2019-20
Score | Guest leaderboard |
|---|---|
160 | Gabriel Luna |
140 | Arnold Schwarzenegger |
110 | Aitch, Jimi Goodwin, Daisy May and Charlie Cooper |
100 | Adam Peaty |
90 | Avelino, Joel Corry, Helen Housby, Jo Harten, Bobby Seagull, Geraint Thomas |
80 | Tom Davis, Andy Murray, Stephen Graham |
76 | Lawro (average after 37 weeks) |
70 | David Baddiel, Richard Hawley, Kojo, Michael Johnson, Craig Mitch, Alex Scott |
60 | Sonny Bill Williams, Georgia, Al Greenwood, Katie Ormerod, Serge from Kasabian, Stefan Ratchford |
50 | Chelcee Grimes, Alex Horne, Reece Parkinson, Sam Warburton |
40 | Big Zuu, Stephen Fry, Hugh Grant, Tom Grennan, Neil Jones, Simon Neil, Tommy O'Dell, Steve Queralt |
30 | Sam Bird, Nathan Dawe, Matthew McConaughey, Seth Rollins, Scotty Stacks |
10 | Samuel T Herring* |
*Herring only predicted seven games rather than 10 like everyone else | |
Total scores after week 37 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 2,820 |
Guests | 2,450 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P37 | W23 | D4 | L10 |