Premier League predictions: Lawro v singer-songwriter Mike Rosenberg aka Passenger
- Published
How will Liverpool respond after their heavy home defeat by Manchester City when they travel to play third-placed Leicester on Saturday?
"It will be interesting to see what Liverpool do," said BBC football expert and former Reds defender Mark Lawrenson. "Firstly in terms of personnel, then how they play, and with how much energy.
"But the pressure is off for Jurgen Klopp's side now because the title has gone, so they can probably play with a bit more freedom. It also helps them that Leicester's home record is nowhere near as strong as it is on the road."
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 singer-songwriter Mike Rosenberg, also known as Passenger.
Passenger released his latest album, Songs for the Drunk and Broken Hearted, in January. He is an Arsenal fan - although he admits he almost ended up supporting Sheffield Wednesday.
"My dad is from the United States and knows nothing about football so I was born into an ocean of uncertainty as far as who I support," he explained.
"I just remember watching Arsenal against Wednesday in the 1993 League Cup final. Who my team should be was hanging in the balance because I was eight, and basically it was whoever won that cup final - and then the FA Cup final between the same teams a couple of months later sealed the deal.
"So, Arsenal it was - they won both games.
"It has worked out all right for me, especially living in Brighton - I don't think there are too many Sheffield Wednesday fans down here - so it was lucky fate-wise, although it is not a particularly great time to be a Gunner now of course.
"We have had some great teams in the time I have been following Arsenal, and Arsene Wenger built two of them.
"Wenger inherited a solid foundation at the back with his first title-winners, added the likes of Patrick Vieira and Marc Overmars, and got Dennis Bergkamp to pull the strings.
"That side was class, and perhaps had more muscle, but the 'Invincibles' era of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg - and Bergkamp too of course - was just untouchable as far as winning things and playing beautiful football goes.
"What a wonderful time that was to be watching Arsenal. It's been slightly more difficult in the past few years - we have still had some fantastic players and had some wonderful moments, but it's been like watching an empire slowly fall apart."
Premier League predictions - week 24 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Mike | |
SATURDAY | |||
Leicester v Liverpool | 3-1 | 1-1 | 2-1 |
Crystal Palace v Burnley | 0-3 | 1-1 | 1-1 |
Man City v Tottenham | 3-0 | 2-1 | 3-1 |
Brighton v Aston Villa | 0-0 | 2-1 | 1-1 |
SUNDAY | |||
Southampton v Wolves | 1-2 | 0-1 | 2-2 |
West Brom v Man Utd | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0-3 |
Arsenal v Leeds | 4-2 | 2-1 | 3-2 |
Everton v Fulham | 0-2 | 2-0 | 2-1 |
MONDAY | |||
West Ham v Sheff Utd | 3-0 | 2-0 | 3-1 |
Chelsea v Newcastle | 2-0 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
SATURDAY
Leicester 3-1 Liverpool
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Mike's prediction: This is such a tough one to call. Liverpool could respond to the drubbing they got from Manchester City, but I actually think Leicester are going to beat them. 2-1
Crystal Palace 0-3 Burnley
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Mike's prediction: This has got a low-scoring draw written all over it. 1-1
Man City 3-0 Tottenham
Brighton 0-0 Aston Villa
SUNDAY
Southampton 1-2 Wolves
West Brom 1-1 Man Utd
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Mike's prediction: I just can't see anything other than a big win for United. 0-3
Arsenal 4-2 Leeds (16:30 GMT)
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Mike's prediction: It is potentially going to be a goal-fest. 3-2
Everton v Fulham
MONDAY
West Ham 3-0 Sheff Utd
Chelsea 2-0 Newcastle
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Mike's prediction: 2-0
Lawro and Mike were speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
From last weekend's Premier League games, Lawro got seven correct results from 10 matches, including three exact scores, for a season-best total of 160 points.
He beat BBC Morning Live presenter Gethin Jones who got three correct results, with no exact scores, giving him a total of 30 points.
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
1 | Man City | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 58 | 0 |
2 | Man Utd | 23 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 57 | 0 |
3 | Chelsea | 23 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 55 | +2 |
4 | Liverpool | 23 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 52 | 0 |
5 | Leeds | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 49 | +5 |
6 | Tottenham | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 44 | +2 |
=7 | Arsenal | 23 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 39 | +4 |
=7 | Leicester | 23 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 39 | -4 |
9 | Wolves | 23 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 30 | +5 |
10 | West Ham | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 29 | -4 |
11 | Southampton | 22 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 26 | +1 |
=12 | Aston Villa | 21 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 23 | -3 |
=12 | Everton | 21 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 23 | -5 |
=14 | Brighton | 23 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 22 | +1 |
=14 | Newcastle | 23 | 7 | 1 | 15 | 22 | +2 |
16 | Burnley | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 21 | +1 |
17 | Crystal Palace | 23 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 18 | -4 |
18 | Sheff Utd | 23 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 16 | +2 |
19 | Fulham | 22 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 9 | -1 |
20 | West Brom | 23 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 2 | -1 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2020-21
Score | Guest |
---|---|
110 | Sister Bliss, Amy Macdonald, Steve White |
90 | Adam Devonshire, Becky Hill, Chris Shiflett |
80 | Celeste, Dan Flint, Raye |
78 | Lawro (average after 23 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, Lewis Evans, Gethin Jones, Fraser T. Smith |
20 | Charlie Forbes, Dougie Payne |
0 | Rema |
Total scores after week 23 | |
---|---|
Lawro | 1,790 |
Guests | 1,460 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
---|---|---|---|
P23 | W14 | D1 | L8 |