Premier League predictions: Lawro v Dot Major from electro-pop band London Grammar
- Published
Chelsea are still unbeaten under new boss Thomas Tuchel - but will his impressive start continue against Manchester United on Sunday?
"Tuchel got a great result in Europe with Tuesday's win over Atletico Madrid," said BBC football expert and former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson. "That was probably his best result in eight games as Blues boss so far.
"I am pretty sure his remit is to get them a top-four finish, so they are back in the Champions League again next season. From what we've seen so far, he's got a really good chance of doing it."
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 Dot Major from electro-pop band London Grammar, who is a Chelsea fan.
London Grammar's third album 'Californian Soil' is released in April. Their last single, 'Lose Your Head' was Annie Mac's first Hottest Record of 2021 on her Future Sounds show on Radio 1
"I've grown up my whole life with a Chelsea season ticket," Dot told BBC Sport. "My dad is a big fan so I started going with him in the mid-1990s, when we'd just starting bringing big foreign stars like Ruud Gullit to the club.
"I'm from Northampton and have always followed the Cobblers on and off but we would charge down the M1 to get to Chelsea games and then on our way home I always remember lying in the back of the car hearing James Alexander Gordon read the scores out on the radio.
"Now I live in London, I still have a season ticket and am quite close to Stamford Bridge after moving further west, which is handy - or will be when we can start going to games again.
"My favourite player was always Gianfranco Zola, who was like our figurehead even if his output wasn't as prolific as players like Eden Hazard that have followed him. But then I loved Dennis Wise as well and that whole team of Dan Petrescu and Gus Poyet was just special."
Do Chelsea go through managers too easily? "It works," says Dot. "I'd rather do it our way than be like Spurs with Mauricio Pochettino, for example, and not win anything for five years. It's part of the culture at Chelsea that you have to win things"
Dot has been there to witness most of Chelsea's many successes in the past 25 years, but two in particular stand out.
The first was at Bolton's Reebok Stadium in April 2005, when the Blues clinched the Premier League title.
"I was in the home section and we were being really quiet when Frank Lampard put us 1-0 up, but it turned out half the stadium were Chelsea fans," he explained. "We hadn't won the league for 50 years so to see that was pretty amazing.
"It is still my dad's favourite moment so it was really good to see that with him. I was 14 at the time so I didn't really understand the significance, but I do now."
The other was a game he wasn't at - the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich, which Chelsea won on penalties
"Even though I wasn't in Munich, it was just amazing to see that group of players I'd grown up with finally win it," he added. "We'd been the best team in it for a few years without going all the way, and I'd resigned myself to it never happening.
"When Didier Drogba won it for us, with what we thought at the time would be his last kick of the ball for the club, something in that moment actually changed for me as a Chelsea fan, where nothing we could do would ever mean as much to me as that did."
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Premier League predictions - week 26 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Dot | |
SATURDAY | |||
Man City v West Ham | 2-1 | 2-0 | 3-1 |
West Brom v Brighton | 1-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
Leeds v Aston Villa | 0-1 | 2-0 | 1-2 |
Newcastle v Wolves | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0-1 |
SUNDAY | |||
Crystal Palace v Fulham | 0-0 | 2-1 | 1-1 |
Leicester v Arsenal | 1-3 | 2-1 | 2-0 |
Tottenham v Burnley | 4-0 | 2-0 | 0-10 |
Chelsea v Man Utd | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2-1 |
Sheff Utd v Liverpool | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-2 |
MONDAY | |||
Everton v Southampton | 1-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
SATURDAY
Man City 2-1 West Ham
West Brom 1-0 Brighton
Leeds 0-1 Aston Villa
Newcastle 1-1 Wolves
SUNDAY
Crystal Palace 0-0 Fulham
Leicester 1-3 Arsenal
Tottenham 4-0 Burnley
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Dot's prediction: It has been so good to see Spurs falling apart in the past few weeks. More of the same here, hopefully. I can't wait to see them lose the Carabao Cup final too. 0-10
Chelsea 0-0 Man Utd
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Dot's prediction: If I was being completely objective I would probably say 1-1 because these games are often really tight and tactical, but I have to go for a Chelsea win. Tuchel has done well and we are looking good for a top-four finish. 2-1
Dot on Frank Lampard's exit: The honest truth is that I came to terms with Frank Lampard eventually being sacked on the day he was hired. We know how the club is run, in terms of hiring and firing managers, but we have always been successful so you can't really argue with it, and nothing will ever take away what Frank did for us as a player - he is the biggest legend the club has ever had.
Sheff Utd 0-2 Liverpool
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Dot's prediction: I don't see any way back for Sheffield United from here. 0-2
MONDAY
Everton 1-0 Southampton
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Dot's prediction: 1-0
Lawro and Dot were speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
From last weekend's Premier League games, Lawro got three correct results from 10 matches, with no exact scores, for a total of 30 points.
He was beaten by Architects frontman Sam Carter who got four correct results, including one exact score, giving him a total of 70 points.
Lawro also picked up 10 points from Leeds' 3-0 win over Southampton on Tuesday, which had been rearranged from week 18.
He went for a 2-1 Leeds win, while Cassia bassist Lou Cotterill went for a 1-1 draw.
With one game left from week 18 - Aston Villa versus Tottenham - Lawro now trails Lou and Shame drummer Charlie Forbes by 60-50. It is still down as a defeat for Lawro, for now.
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
1 | Man City | 25 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 67 | 0 |
2 | Man Utd | 25 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 63 | 0 |
3 | Chelsea | 25 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 61 | +2 |
4 | Liverpool | 25 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 54 | +2 |
5 | Leeds | 25 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 52 | +5 |
6 | Tottenham | 24 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 47 | +3 |
7 | Arsenal | 25 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 42 | +4 |
8 | Leicester | 25 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 41 | -5 |
9 | Wolves | 25 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 36 | +3 |
10 | West Ham | 25 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 32 | -6 |
=11 | Brighton | 25 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 28 | +5 |
=11 | Burnley | 25 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 28 | +4 |
13 | Everton | 24 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 27 | -6 |
14 | Southampton | 25 | 8 | 2 | 15 | 26 | 0 |
15 | Aston Villa | 23 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 24 | -7 |
16 | Newcastle | 25 | 7 | 1 | 17 | 22 | +1 |
17 | Crystal Palace | 25 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 19 | -4 |
18 | Sheff Utd | 25 | 5 | 4 | 16 | 19 | +2 |
19 | Fulham | 25 | 3 | 0 | 22 | 9 | -1 |
20 | West Brom | 25 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 2 | -1 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2020-21
Score | Guest |
|---|---|
110 | Sister Bliss, Amy Macdonald, Steve White |
90 | Adam Devonshire, Becky Hill, Passenger, Chris Shiflett |
80 | Celeste, Dan Flint, Peter Hooton, Raye |
77 | Lawro (average after 25 weeks) |
70 | Sam Carter, Lou Cotterill |
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 25 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 1,920 |
Guests | 1,630 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P25 | W14 | D0 | L11 |
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