Premier League predictions: Lawro v pianist, singer-songwriter & Aston Villa fan Reuben James
- Published
The race for fourth place in the Premier League is wide open, with no-one making a convincing case that it is theirs for keeps this season - so who will grab the final Champions League qualification spot?
"Arsenal have got games in hand but I just feel that sometimes, when the pressure is on them, they cave in a bit," said BBC Sport football expert Mark Lawrenson.
"Tottenham are losing games and losing ground, and the problem for West Ham is that they don't have the biggest squad. Wolves are outsiders too, because of their lack of goals.
"The top three will stay clear and I just think that, by hook or by crook, Manchester United are going to get fourth place. They are still picking up points even if the way they are playing is totally unconvincing at the moment."
Lawro is making predictions for all 380 top-flight matches this season, against a variety of guests.
This week's guest is pianist, singer-songwriter and Aston Villa fan Reuben James.
James, who has a new album coming out in May, made his name writing and touring with Sam Smith, performing with them at the Oscars and the Grammys.
He is currently working on Smith's new record after returning from Los Angeles this week, where he had been working with Marcus Mumford.
"I was there for a month so it was a long stint," he told BBC Sport. "Thank god for NBC because it has kept me updated on the football - and the Villa.
"I only got back a few hours ago, and haven't really had much sleep because of jetlag. My mum was like, 'make sure you look up what has been happening before your interview'.
"I was like, 'I am more prepared for this than any music interview, ever!'"
James grew up idolising a Villa goalscorer in Dwight Yorke but it is Villa's goalkeeper who is his favourite player now. "I honestly feel that with Emiliano Martinez we have the best keeper in the Premier League," he explained. "He gives me more confidence than anyone who has ever been in goal for Villa."
James was born in Birmingham and brought up in Bromford, and there was only ever one team for him.
He explained: "Where I'm from, it's either 'Villa 'til you die', or you are a Blue Nose - and I definitely wasn't going to become a Blue Nose!
"My dad took me down the Villa every week and I just fell in love with them.
"Dwight Yorke was a massive hero of mine - I was a striker too - and football was my life for a long time until I found music. I was very upset when he left for Manchester United.
"Going to games was a big part of me growing up and experiencing different cultures - for good and bad. When you go to games as a kid you meet so many fans from different walks of life, which is real eye opener, but sadly I experienced racism too.
"I think you grow up so fast from watching football, because even when you are a kid you are surrounded by adults and you are in their world.
"Following Villa has given me plenty of ups and downs over the years, but I really do feel it is a great time to be a Villa fan right now.
"It's great that we've got this great ambition again and the club is showing signs of intent - they're not just buzzwords either, because it really does feel like it could be the start of something under Steven Gerrard.
"We've made signings like Philippe Coutinho - who we absolutely have to buy permanently in the summer by the way - and we've also got some fantastic young players coming through. The future is really bright, and I've not been this optimistic for a long time."
James' single Tunnel Vision was Sian Eleri's Chillest Record on BBC Radio 1's Chillest Show last year. He had his first UK headline tour at the end of 2021 and has collaborated as a songwriter with artists like Disclosure, Honne, Joy Crookes, Liam Payne and Little Mix.
Premier League predictions - week 26 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Reuben | |
SATURDAY | |||
West Ham v Newcastle | 1-1 | 2-0 | 2-2 |
Arsenal v Brentford | 2-1 | 2-0 | 2-1 |
Aston Villa v Watford | 0-1 | 2-1 | 3-1 |
Brighton v Burnley | 0-3 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
Crystal Palace v Chelsea | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1-2 |
Liverpool v Norwich | 3-1 | 3-0 | 4-0 |
Southampton v Everton | 2-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 |
Man City v Tottenham | 2-3 | 2-0 | 3-1 |
SUNDAY | |||
Leeds v Man Utd | 2-4 | 1-2 | 2-4 |
Wolves v Leicester | 1-2 | 1-1 | 1-0 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
Games kick off at 15:00 GMT unless otherwise stated.
SATURDAY
West Ham 1-1 Newcastle
Arsenal 2-1 Brentford
Aston Villa 0-1 Watford
Brighton 0-3 Burnley
Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea
Liverpool 3-1 Norwich
Southampton 2-0 Everton
Manchester City 2-3 Tottenham
SUNDAY
Leeds United 2-4 Manchester United
Wolves 2-1 Leicester
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Reuben's prediction: 1-0
Lawro and Reuben were speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
In last weekend's games, Lawro got three correct results from nine matches, with no exact scores, for a total of 30 points.
He was beaten by actor Jeremy Piven, who got five correct results with two exact scores, giving him a total of 110 points.
Lawro also picked up 40 points for correctly predicting that Manchester United would beat Brighton 2-0 on Tuesday.
His guests from week 18, when that game was meant to be played, were Femi and TJ Koleoso from jazz band Ezra Collective. They picked up 10 points apiece after backing United to win 3-1 and 2-1 respectively.
With three rearranged games still to be played from that set of fixtures, Lawro has 90 points so far. It is still down as a guest win for now, however, as TJ has got 110 points. Femi has 50.
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
1 | Man City | 25 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 69 | 0 |
2 | Man Utd | 25 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 62 | +2 |
3 | Liverpool | 24 | 17 | 7 | 0 | 58 | -1 |
4 | Chelsea | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 57 | -1 |
5 | Tottenham | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 43 | +3 |
6 | Leicester | 22 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 42 | +5 |
7 | Leeds | 23 | 13 | 1 | 9 | 40 | +8 |
=8 | Arsenal | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 35 | -2 |
=8 | Aston Villa | 23 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 35 | +4 |
10 | West Ham | 25 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 34 | -5 |
11 | Brighton | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 27 | -2 |
12 | Wolves | 23 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 24 | -5 |
=13 | Everton | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 21 | +3 |
=13 | Southampton | 24 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 21 | -3 |
15 | Newcastle | 23 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 20 | +2 |
16 | Crystal Palace | 24 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 18 | -3 |
=17 | Brentford | 25 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 16 | -3 |
=17 | Burnley | 21 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 16 | +3 |
19 | Watford | 23 | 2 | 5 | 16 | 11 | 0 |
20 | Norwich | 24 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 10 | -2 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2021-22
Score | Guest |
|---|---|
130 | Jamie Webster |
110 | Friction, Jeremy Piven, She Drew The Gun, TJ from Ezra Collective |
90 | Dev from Idles |
80 | Call Me Loop, Tom McFarland |
70 | Lawro (average after 25 weeks), Ben Cajee, Elena Cole, Jelani Blackman, S-X |
60 | Haydn Craven, James Spence of Rolo Tomassi |
50 | Femi from Ezra Collective, Aqib Khan, Shaun Thomas |
40 | Dan Haggis of The Wombats, Murray & Tav from FUR, Martin Noble, Justin Young |
30 | James Arthur, Dan McCarthy from KAWALA, Roland Orzabal, Michael 'Venom' Page, Curt Smith, Roger Taylor, Zuzu |
10 | Tom Hughes |
Total scores after week 25 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 1,760 |
Guests | 1,550 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P25 | W16 | D4 | L5 |
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