Premier League predictions: Lawro v Swansea City fan Lewis Evans from post-punk band Black Country, New Road
- Published
West Ham will go for their fifth straight league win when they take on Liverpool on Sunday - so, can anyone stop the high-flying Hammers?
"There's no secret to why West Ham are doing so well at the moment," said BBC football expert and former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson. "It's down to hard work, good organisation at the back and the fact they are taking their chances.
"This should be a really good game, especially because Liverpool have ground to make up on the teams above them - it's a must-win for the Reds."
Lawro is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.
For this weekend's Premier League fixtures, he is up against Lewis Evans, saxophonist in post-punk band Black Country, New Road - whose debut album For The First Time is out at the beginning of February.
Black Country, New Road featured on a Near Future session on Mary Anne Hobbs' BBC 6 Music show, and she describes their sound "as razor sharp as you might imagine, darkly comic, completely impossible to box, and I love it for all those reasons".
Lewis is a Swansea City fan, and is enjoying seeing them challenge for promotion at the top of the Championship this season - although not being in the Premier League does have its advantages.
He told BBC Sport: "It's such an incredible league, because anyone can beat anyone, but you don't want anyone else at the bottom of the table causing any upsets if your team is fighting relegation too.
"So, this season it has been nice to be able to watch Burnley beat Liverpool, or cheer Sheffield United on against Manchester United, because it doesn't affect us. I've really enjoyed watching as a neutral.
"Of course we want to be back up there ourselves, though. Knowing Swansea, we don't do any thing the easy way so, if we do go up this season, it will probably be through the play-offs."
Trundle scores outrageous penalty
Lewis grew up in east London, in Tottenham and West Ham territory, but he ignored peer pressure and had his own hero - Swansea legend Lee Trundle.
He explained: "It was always Swansea for me. My mum's side of the family is from around there and I used to go to that part of Wales a lot when I was growing up. I went to watch a lot of Swans games, and I felt instantly at home on the North Bank at our old Vetch Field ground.
"The club had some dark times at the start of the 2000s but I was too young to really understand what was going on, and since then we have made amazing progress. It's been an incredible story.
"We've had some great players over the past few years and have got some incredible talent at the moment too. My favourite is still Lee Trundle, though. I have never seen anyone do the stuff that he did on the pitch.
"When I was a kid, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and looking back now it still is - to be playing League One football and attempting skills you would see Ronaldinho do.
"Not only was Trundle a game-changer on the pitch with a ridiculous amount of flair, he was so funny with it. He is still banging in the goals too - I love that video of him (above) scoring a penalty in a charity game when he pretends to tie up his laces."
Premier League predictions - week 21 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Lewis | |
SATURDAY | |||
Everton v Newcastle | 0-2 | 2-0 | 3-1 |
Crystal Palace v Wolves | 1-0 | 1-1 | 1-1 |
Man City v Sheff Utd | 1-0 | 3-0 | 4-0 |
West Brom v Fulham | 2-2 | 1-2 | 1-2 |
Arsenal v Man Utd | 0-0 | 2-1 | 1-1 |
Southampton v Aston Villa | 0-1 | 2-1 | 1-2 |
SUNDAY | |||
Chelsea v Burnley | 2-0 | 2-1 | 1-1 |
Leicester v Leeds United | 1-3 | 1-2 | 3-1 |
West Ham v Liverpool | 1-3 | 1-2 | 1-1 |
Brighton v Tottenham | 1-0 | 0-2 | 0-2 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
SATURDAY
Everton 0-2 Newcastle
Crystal Palace 1-0 Wolves
Man City 1-0 Sheff Utd
West Brom 2-2 Fulham
Arsenal 0-0 Man Utd
Southampton 0-1 Aston Villa
SUNDAY
Chelsea 2-0 Burnley
Leicester 1-3 Leeds
West Ham 1-3 Liverpool
Brighton 1-0 Tottenham
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Lewis's prediction: 0-2
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
From the midweek Premier League games, played Tuesday to Thursday, Lawro got two correct results from 10 matches, with no exact scores, for a total of 20 points.
He was beaten by TV Priest guitarist Alex Sprogis, who got five correct results, with no exact scores, giving him a total of 50 points.
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
=1 | Man City | 19 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
=1 | Man Utd | 20 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 51 | +1 |
3 | Chelsea | 20 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 48 | +5 |
4 | Liverpool | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 45 | 0 |
5 | Leeds | 19 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 40 | +7 |
6 | Tottenham | 19 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 37 | 0 |
7 | Arsenal | 20 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 36 | +2 |
8 | Leicester | 20 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 35 | -5 |
9 | West Ham | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 26 | -4 |
10 | Wolves | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 25 | +3 |
11 | Southampton | 19 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 23 | 0 |
12 | Brighton | 20 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 21 | +5 |
=13 | Burnley | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 20 | +2 |
=13 | Everton | 18 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 20 | -6 |
=15 | Aston Villa | 18 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 17 | -5 |
=15 | Crystal Palace | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 17 | -1 |
17 | Newcastle | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 16 | -1 |
18 | Sheff Utd | 20 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 13 | +2 |
19 | Fulham | 19 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 6 | -1 |
20 | West Brom | 20 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 2 | -1 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2020-21
Score | Guest |
|---|---|
110 | Sister Bliss, Amy Macdonald, Steve White |
90 | Adam Devonshire, Becky Hill |
80 | Celeste Dan Flint, Raye |
74 | Lawro (average after 20 weeks) |
70 | Lou Cotterill, Peter Hooton |
60 | Caroline Weir |
50 | Declan McKenna, Paul Smith, Alex Sprogis, DJ Target |
40 | Gavin 'Mo' Edgeley |
30 | Rick Astley, Fraser T. Smith |
20 | Charlie Forbes, Dougie Payne |
0 | Rema |
Total scores after week 20 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 1,480 |
Guests | 1,310 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P20 | W11 | D1 | L8 |