Premier League predictions: Lawro v Afrobeat star and Man Utd fan Rema
- Published
The 237th Merseyside derby took place at Goodison Park on Saturday - and it ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw.
"Everton have surprised everyone," said former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson. "I know they have got some very good players but I thought their new signings would take longer to settle in.
"James Rodriguez looks like a real player and the game looks very easy for him. Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure have done great as well and, now they have got Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring, they look a real handful."
Lawro is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.
This weekend, he is up against singer, rapper, Afrobeat star and Manchester United fan Rema.
Rema's track 'Iron Man' appeared on Barack Obama's 2019 summer playlist when the former president of the United States revealed what he had been listening to in August that year
Rema - real name Divine Ikubor - has followed United since he was a boy growing up in Benin City, Nigeria, and got to know their star players by playing video games with his older brother.
"I love United because of him," the 20-year-old told BBC Sport. "He used to play Fifa against me as United, and he would always win - so I always saw them as the winning team!
"We ended up having arguments over who would get to play as them - but, when I got the chance, I got attached to players like Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Edwin van der Sar and Wayne Rooney, before I even saw them play in real life."
Rema has a good reason to ask for a rematch after some his songs were included in the soundtrack for Fifa 21 when it was released last month - but he might not pick United next time he plays.
"I know we're not doing so good at the moment," he added. "Not compared to those days anyway. The way things are going this season, I am not too happy."
Rema's biggest hit 'Dumebi' has been streamed more than 20m times on Spotify
As well as United, Rema grew up watching Nigeria stars Jay-Jay Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu - although he was never able to pull off their kind of tricks himself.
"I used to play every day with my friends after school," he explained. "We would go and play barefoot in the field.
"Jay-Jay was my favourite. I idolised him and and I wanted to be a striker too, but sadly I would always end up in goal because I wasn't that good."
Premier League predictions - week 5 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Rema | |
SATURDAY | |||
Everton v Liverpool | 2-2 | 1-1 | 1-3 |
Chelsea v Southampton | 3-3 | 2-1 | 2-1 |
Man City v Arsenal | 1-0 | 1-1 | 2-5 |
Newcastle v Man Utd | 1-4 | 1-2 | 3-1 |
SUNDAY | |||
Sheff Utd v Fulham | 1-1 | 2-0 | 0-2 |
Crystal Palace v Brighton | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-0 |
Tottenham v West Ham | 3-3 | 2-1 | 4-2 |
Leicester v Aston Villa | 0-1 | 2-0 | 5-1 |
MONDAY | |||
West Brom v Burnley | 0-0 | 0-1 | 3-2 |
Leeds v Wolves | 0-1 | 2-1 | 2-2 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
SATURDAY
Everton 2-2 Liverpool
Chelsea 3-3 Southampton
Man City 1-0 Arsenal
Newcastle 1-4 Man Utd
SUNDAY
Sheff Utd 1-1 Fulham
Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton
Tottenham 3-3 West Ham
Leicester 0-1 Aston Villa
MONDAY
West Brom 0-0 Burnley
Leeds 0-1 Wolves
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Rema's prediction: 2-2
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
In the last set of games before the international break, Lawro got six correct results, including one exact score, for a total of 90 points.
He beat Manchester City and Scotland midfielder Caroline Weir, who also got six correct results, but with no exact scores, for a tally of 60 points.
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
=1 | Chelsea | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | +6 |
=1 | Liverpool | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | +4 |
=3 | Arsenal | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | +1 |
=3 | Leicester | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
=3 | Man Utd | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | +13 |
=3 | Tottenham | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | +3 |
=7 | Everton | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | -6 |
=7 | Man City | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | +7 |
=9 | Aston Villa | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | -7 |
=9 | Leeds | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | -1 |
=9 | Newcastle | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
=9 | Wolves | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | +4 |
=13 | Southampton | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 |
=13 | West Ham | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -3 |
15 | Burnley | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | +3 |
16 | Crystal Palace | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -4 |
17 | Sheffield United | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
=18 | Brighton | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -3 |
=18 | Fulham | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +2 |
=18 | West Brom | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -1 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2020-21
Score | Guest |
|---|---|
80 | Raye |
73 | Lawro (average after four weeks) |
60 | Celeste, Caroline Weir |
50 | Declan McKenna |
Total scores after week 4 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 290 |
Guests | 250 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P4 | W2 | D0 | L2 |