Premier League predictions: Lawro v Harry Potter actor and Leeds fan Matthew Lewis
- Published
The race for a top-four Premier League finish has gone to the final week of the season, but who will miss out from Leicester, Chelsea and Liverpool?
There is just one point separating third and fifth place going into the final game
Lawro is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.
For this week's midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday, he takes on actor and Leeds fan Matthew Lewis, who hosts the weekly official Leeds United podcast with former Leeds star Jermaine Beckford, current striker Patrick Bamford and MOTDx presenter Emma Jones.
Lewis, who is based in Florida, explained: "We'd set up our own podcast together called 'Doing a Leeds' - Jermaine was the man inside at the stadium and I was the fan living abroad.
"We were trying to get a global audience for Leeds when we got back in the Premier League, and show what it is like when you are a fan away from home. As it turned out, with lockdown, everyone was away from the stadium so it kind of resonated with people in Leeds as well as around the world.
"Then the club got in touch and asked us to rebrand as the official podcast which for me was just a dream come true. Suddenly I am on with Jermaine and Pat Bamford talking to every fan out there - it took a bit of getting used to!"
"Next year is going to be tough, people will have been working out what it is Leeds do, and how to counter it," says Matt. "I think teams have been surprised at how long we can maintain our intensity in games, and they might be more aware of that."
Matthew, who is is best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films, has had roles in Ripper Street, Happy Valley and The Syndicate.
He is a former Elland Road season-ticket holder, but has enjoyed the club's first season back in the Premier League since 2004 from afar.
"It's been an incredible few months," he told BBC Sport. "It was worth the wait, although it has been a very long wait.
"We have been languishing in the lower leagues for so long that when I fell in love with the club as a teenager, it was when were terrible.
"I didn't follow football hugely the last time we were in the top flight, I sort of grew up more into rugby league and it was probably only the season after we got relegated that I started to get into it.
"When were in the Championship and League One I used to have a season ticket and I used to travel away with the Maverick Whites supporters club to all sorts of places.
"It was a tough time but that wasn't really so much down to where we were, it was the shambles that the club was in off the field that was really difficult to take. No-one enjoys bad football, but your team being awful is not going to cause you to fall out of love with football - you support the team regardless.
"What makes you fall out of love with it is successive owners that just don't seem to care. It was not just that we lacked ambition, we imploded and became a national embarrassment.
"Being out in the United States and watching it happen was hard work and no-one really knew Leeds over here then, just a few years ago. You couldn't even watch us on TV and I had to strike a deal with the guy who owned my local bar, promising to bring people along with me to watch games if he got the package which showed them.
"We did that for a bit and then he left and the new manager refused to do it. So I just used to sit and watch games on my own, on my iPad. And we would usually lose, because we were rubbish.
"Things are very different now, obviously. I have got a Leeds facemask that I've been wearing, and I can't even walk around my sleepy Florida town without someone pointing it out, and telling me how we are their favourite team now. Everyone is talking about us.
"I have set up a supporters' club over here, so we have got the Orlando Whites - we meet up to watch games at a pub where the landlord supports Leeds too.
"But this is just a great time to be a Leeds fan, wherever you are in the world. Marcelo Bielsa has been incredible of course, and changed everything. But you have to give credit to the owner, Andrea Radrizzani. He has given us our self-respect back and put the club back in touch with the community - it feels like it belongs to the city again."
Premier League predictions - week 37 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Matthew | |
TUESDAY | |||
Man Utd v Fulham | 1-1 | 3-0 | 3-0 |
Southampton v Leeds | 0-2 | 0-2 | 1-2 |
Brighton v Man City | 3-2 | 0-3 | 0-2 |
Chelsea v Leicester | 2-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 |
WEDNESDAY | |||
Everton v Wolves | 1-0 | 2-0 | 0-0 |
Newcastle v Sheff Utd | 1-0 | 2-1 | 2-0 |
Tottenham v Aston Villa | 1-2 | 2-1 | 1-2 |
Crystal Palace v Arsenal | 1-3 | 0-2 | 1-0 |
Burnley v Liverpool | 0-3 | 1-3 | 0-2 |
West Brom v West Ham | 1-3 | 0-2 | 1-3 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREMIER LEAGUE PREDICTIONS
TUESDAY
Man Utd 1-1 Fulham
Lawro's prediction: 3-0
Matthew's prediction: I'd like Fulham to win but that isn't going to happen. 3-0
Southampton 0-2 Leeds
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Matthew's prediction: We should beat Southampton, although I think they will score. 1-2
Matthew on what next for Leeds? "Safety was our priority this year, but even when we have lost games we have been able to hold our heads high and say 'this is just fantastic to watch'. If we were 17th now I might have a different opinion, but this is a unique season in many ways. My outlook is that if you are going to lose 1-0, you might as well lose 5-0 - but go for it, try and get the win. That's how Bielsa looks at games and I wouldn't have it any other way under him. I think some other clubs survive every year finishing 16th or 17th and they watch the same dour games every year - 0-0 or 1-0. Yes, they are in the Premier League but do you really enjoy it? I want us to keep doing it differently."
Brighton 3-2 Man City
Lawro's prediction: 0-3
Matthew's prediction: Brighton don't ever score a lot of goals and even City's B team is very strong. 0-2
Chelsea 2-1 Leicester
WEDNESDAY
Everton 1-0 Wolves
Newcastle 1-0 Sheffield United
Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa
Crystal Palace 1-3 Arsenal
Burnley 0-3 Liverpool
West Brom 1-3 West Ham
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Matthew's prediction: 1-3
Lawro and Matthew were speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
From the last round of Premier League fixtures, Lawro got seven correct results from the eight matches, including two exact scores, for a total of 130 points.
He beat Radio 1Xtra DJ Ace, who got five correct results, but with no exact scores, giving him a total of 50 points.
Ace also correctly predicted the outcome of the FA Cup final, but he does not get any points from that game.
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
1 | Man City | 36 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 100 | 0 |
=2 | Chelsea | 36 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 84 | +2 |
=2 | Man Utd | 36 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 84 | 0 |
4 | Tottenham | 36 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 83 | +2 |
5 | Liverpool | 36 | 23 | 12 | 1 | 81 | 0 |
6 | Leeds | 36 | 23 | 1 | 12 | 70 | +4 |
7 | Leicester | 36 | 19 | 6 | 11 | 63 | -4 |
8 | Arsenal | 36 | 17 | 5 | 14 | 56 | +1 |
9 | Wolves | 36 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 53 | +3 |
10 | Everton | 36 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 49 | -2 |
11 | Brighton | 36 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 44 | +6 |
12 | Burnley | 36 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 43 | +3 |
13 | West Ham | 36 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 40 | -6 |
14 | Southampton | 36 | 11 | 5 | 20 | 38 | 0 |
15 | Aston Villa | 36 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 35 | -4 |
=16 | Crystal Palace | 36 | 8 | 7 | 21 | 31 | -3 |
=16 | Newcastle | 36 | 9 | 4 | 23 | 31 | 0 |
18 | Sheff Utd | 36 | 5 | 6 | 25 | 21 | +2 |
19 | Fulham | 36 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 9 | -1 |
20 | West Brom | 36 | 0 | 5 | 31 | 5 | -1 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2020-21
Score | Guest |
|---|---|
110 | Sister Bliss, Brandon Crook, Amy Macdonald, Dot Major, Steve White |
100 | Tubes |
90 | Adam Devonshire, Becky Hill, Passenger, Chris Shiflett |
83 | Lawro (average after 36 weeks) |
80 | Celeste, Dan Flint, Frank Harper, Peter Hooton, Raye |
70 | Sam Carter, Lou Cotterill, Ben Thatcher |
60 | Majestic, Caroline Weir |
50 | Ace, David Gray, Declan McKenna, Billy Monger, Paul Smith, Alex Sprogis, DJ Target |
40 | Gavin 'Mo' Edgeley, Ben Howard |
30 | Rick Astley, Lewis Evans, Steve Guttenberg, Gethin Jones, Fraser T. Smith |
20 | Charlie Forbes, Dougie Payne |
10 | Theo Ellis |
0 | Rema |
Total scores after week 36 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 2,990 |
Guests | 2,370 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P36 | W20 | D2 | L14 |