FA Cup final & Premier League predictions: Lawro v MMA legend Paul 'Semtex' Daley
- Published
The 141st FA Cup final takes place at Wembley on Saturday - will it be trophy number two of the season for Liverpool, or will Chelsea get revenge for their defeat in the Carabao Cup final?
BBC football expert Mark Lawrenson has pitted his wits against a different guest in every round of this season's FA Cup.
For the final, he is up against mixed martial arts legend Paul 'Semtex' Daley, who is set to end his 19-year career at Bellator 281 at Wembley Arena on Friday.
Coverage of the main card will be live on BBC Three & BBC iPlayer from 21:00 BST.
You can watch Daley go for a 44th victory in his final fight against Brazil's Wendell Giacomo - but how will he fare against Lawro?
It's time to call it a day - MMA legend Daley
Daley moved from London to Nottingham as a boy and was a talented footballer who played in the same junior teams as England international turned Match of the Day pundit Jermaine Jenas.
"I played for Clifton All Whites, who were my Saturday team, and county football for South Notts and Nottingham," Daley explained.
"I was at the Nottingham Forest School of Excellence for a year or so when Jermaine was there too - I was a left-winger, pacey and powerful, but I wanted to be a ninja so I always preferred karate."
Watch five great knockouts from MMA legend Paul Daley
Daley is looking to end his MMA career with a bang on Friday, but he has already ruled out a return to football when his fighting days are over.
"I have watched some games in the Saturday and Sunday leagues in my local area and they seem a little rougher than the sport I do now," he said.
"So, no, I am going to give football a miss even though I've probably got the right skillset for it."
FA Cup final prediction | |||
|---|---|---|---|
SATURDAY | Result | Lawro | Paul |
Chelsea v Liverpool | 0-0 (Liverpool win 6-5 on penalties) | 0-2 | 1-2 |
LAWRO'S FA CUP FINAL PREDICTION
SATURDAY
Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool (5-6 penalties)
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Paul's prediction: 1-2
As well as the FA Cup, Lawro is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.
Daley has also looked at the eight league games being played on the penultimate weekend of the season.
Premier League predictions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Paul | |
SUNDAY | |||
Tottenham v Burnley | 1-0 | 3-0 | 2-0 |
Aston Villa v Crystal Palace | 1-1 | 2-1 | 1-0 |
Leeds v Brighton | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-0 |
Watford v Leicester | 1-5 | 0-2 | 0-2 |
West Ham v Man City | 2-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 |
Wolves v Norwich | 1-1 | 2-0 | 2-0 |
Everton v Brentford | 2-3 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
MONDAY | |||
Newcastle v Arsenal | 2-0 | 1-1 | 2-1 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREMIER LEAGUE PREDICTIONS
SUNDAY
Tottenham 1-0 Burnley
Aston Villa 1-1 Crystal Palace
Leeds 1-1 Brighton
Watford 1-5 Leicester
West Ham 2-2 Manchester City
Wolves 1-1 Norwich
Everton 2-3 Brentford
MONDAY
Newcastle 2-0 Arsenal
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Paul's prediction: 1-2
Lawro and Paul were speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
From the midweek Premier League games, Lawro got five correct results from six Premier League matches, including one exact score, for a total of 80 points.
He beat DJs Majestic and Joel Corry. Majestic got four correct results, with one exact score, giving him 70 points, while Corry got two correct results, with no exact scores, giving him 20 points.
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
1 | Man City | 37 | 33 | 4 | 0 | 103 | 0 |
2 | Liverpool | 37 | 29 | 8 | 0 | 98 | 0 |
3 | Chelsea | 36 | 27 | 8 | 1 | 89 | 0 |
4 | Man Utd | 37 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 82 | +2 |
5 | Tottenham | 36 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 77 | 0 |
6 | Arsenal | 36 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 60 | -2 |
7 | Aston Villa | 36 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 55 | +5 |
8 | Leeds | 36 | 16 | 4 | 16 | 52 | +10 |
9 | Leicester | 35 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 51 | +1 |
10 | West Ham | 36 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 47 | -3 |
11 | Wolves | 36 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 42 | -3 |
12 | Southampton | 36 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 40 | +3 |
13 | Everton | 35 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 38 | +3 |
14 | Brighton | 36 | 10 | 7 | 19 | 37 | -5 |
15 | Newcastle | 36 | 9 | 6 | 21 | 33 | -1 |
16 | Brentford | 36 | 10 | 2 | 26 | 32 | -3 |
17 | Crystal Palace | 35 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 27 | -6 |
18 | Burnley | 35 | 5 | 9 | 21 | 24 | -1 |
19 | Watford | 36 | 3 | 6 | 27 | 15 | 0 |
20 | Norwich | 36 | 2 | 6 | 28 | 12 | 0 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2021-22
Score | Guest |
|---|---|
190 | TJ from Ezra Collective |
130 | Jamie Webster |
120 | Jeremy Piven |
110 | Jelani Blackman, Friction, Reuben James, She Drew The Gun, S-X |
100 | ArrDee, Dev from Idles, Johnny Marr |
82 | Lawro (average after 36 weeks) |
80 | Will Kennard from Chase & Status, Call Me Loop, Tom McFarland |
70 | Austin Brown, Ben Cajee, Elena Cole, Majestic, Tom from Blossoms |
60 | Femi from Ezra Collective, Haydn Craven, James Spence of Rolo Tomassi |
50 | Aqib Khan, Jim Piddock, Joe from Blossoms, Shaun Thomas, Bobbie Vylan |
40 | James Arthur, Dan Haggis of The Wombats, Murray & Tav from FUR, Martin Noble, Curt Smith, Taka from Feeder, Justin Young |
30 | Dan McCarthy from KAWALA, Mez, Roland Orzabal, Michael 'Venom' Page, Roger Taylor, Zuzu |
20 | Joel Corry, Joe Elliott |
10 | Tom Hughes |
Total scores after week 36 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 2,960 |
Guests | 2,500 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P36 | W21 | D5 | L10 |
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