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Premier League predictions: Lawro v You Me At Six drummer & Man Utd fan Dan Flint

Lawro's predictions

Manchester United go to Anfield as Premier League leaders on Sunday but do Jurgen Klopp’s side have the firepower to win and knock them off their perch?

“Liverpool have a few problems right now, and one of them is that their front three look like a front two and a quarter,” said BBC football expert and former Reds defender Mark Lawrenson.

“With Diogo Jota injured, there is no-one to shake it up, and since Mohamed Salah’s interview in December with Spanish newspaper AS – where he talked about his future and how he thought he should have been made captain in their last Champions League group game – he doesn’t seem to be fully on his game.

“The spotlight has been on Liverpool defensively, because of the players they have been missing, but they desperately need their front three back on song.”

Snapshot showing top of the Premier League: 1st Man Utd, 2nd Liverpool, 3rd Man City, 4th Leicester, 5th Everton & 6th Tottenham

Lawro is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend’s fixtures, he is up against You Me At Six drummer Dan Flint, who is a Manchester United fan

You Me At Six’s new album ‘Suckapunch’ is out this week and, like United, they could hit top spot.

You Me At Six
You Me At Six have had five top-10 albums and start a UK tour in May

Why United? “I’m from Surrey, which is obviously where most United fans live,” Flint told BBC Sport with smile. “And yeah, I’ve had that joke thrown at me for my entire life!

“It’s actually because of my dad, who grew up supporting them from the time of George Best in the 1960s. I naturally just followed him when I was a kid and choosing my team.

“It was only when I got a bit older that I was like ‘oh right, Manchester is 300 miles away’ and ‘oh I see, I am not meant to support them because they are not my local team’ but it is too late by then, of course.

“And to be honest, who else was I going to support? I was growing up when United’s ‘Class of 92’ broke through. They were my heroes.

“I played a lot of football when I was younger – I played for my county and really wanted to be a footballer when I grew up. Who else was I going to choose, when United had youngsters like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Gary Neville?

“I would be sat there watching them, thinking ‘that’s going to be me’.

“Even now, with Becks, I still absolutely love him. I think he would be the only person in the world who I would really get excited about meeting. He’s a proper legend.

“When I was younger, I had every haircut he had, and he changed his hair a lot. I’d get in and my mum would see me and be like ‘what have you done to your hair now!?’ I’d be going ‘look, Becks has done it so this is me!’.”

You Me At Six Drummer Dan Flint
Flint was a boyhood striker, who played for his local side Staines Town FC. “I was a fast kid, I did a lot of athletics as well and used to sprint competitively too,” he explained. “I was quite small for my age and I was a number nine in the Michael Owen mould – if you pinged the ball over the top, I am going to get there before anyone else. The most I got was 37 goals in one season. I was the top scorer in the whole club, which is one of my claims to fame in football – the other is that I’ve played at Wembley twice – for Radio 1 – and scored twice. Owen was commentating on one of my goals.”
Result Lawro Dan
SATURDAY
Wolves v West Brom x-x 2-0 2-0
Leeds v Brighton x-x 2-0 1-2
West Ham v Burnley x-x 2-0 1-0
Fulham v Chelsea x-x 0-2 1-1
Leicester v Southampton x-x 2-0 3-1
SUNDAY
Aston Villa v Everton P-P P-P P-P
Sheff Utd v Tottenham x-x 1-1 0-3
Liverpool v Man Utd x-x 1-1 1-2
Man City v Crystal Palace x-x 3-0 4-1
MONDAY
Arsenal v Newcastle x-x 2-0 1-2

Aston Villa’s game against Everton has been postponed.

A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

LAWRO’S PREDICTIONS

SATURDAY

Wolves v West Brom

Wolves v West Brom (12:30 GMT)

Wolves’ home defeat by Everton on Tuesday means they have lost five of their past eight league games, and they have won only one of them. The biggest reason for that is their lack of goals.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side went sixth in the table when the beat Arsenal at the end of November, the same game that Raul Jimenez sustained a serious head injury that has sidelined him since.

Without him, Wolves have clearly struggled to score – they have managed more than one goal in only one of those eight matches – but I’d be surprised if they don’t create chances against West Brom.

West Brom 0-4 Arsenal: Baggies must stop conceding sloppy goals – Sam Allardyce

Baggies boss Sam Allardyce has already signed Robert Snodgrass since the transfer window opened and I am expecting more new signings to follow – but not in time for this game.

Lawro’s prediction: 2-0

Dan’s prediction: I have enjoyed watching Wolves the past couple of years. They are not doing as well this season, but West Brom are looking dreadful – Wolves have got to win that. 2-0

Leeds v Brighton

Leeds v Brighton (15:00 GMT)

Leeds played well in the first half of their FA Cup defeat by League Two side Crawley, and if they had scored then I think they would have gone on to win comfortably.

That’s the way I think Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa will look at it, and his side had enough chances to have wrapped up the game by half-time.

Credit to Crawley, though, because they gave Leeds a game of football – they didn’t kick them, and they didn’t play long-ball football – and they won. It was a great game and Crawley looked a good side.

Brighton only just escaped being on the wrong end of an FA Cup shock themselves, getting past another League Two side Newport on penalties.

The Seagulls were decent against Manchester City on Wednesday and only lost 1-0, but it doesn’t change the fact they cannot win a game at the moment.

Graham Potter’s side have got some good players, are well organised and well coached, and they are easy on the eye – but they don’t score enough goals.

Maybe sometimes getting the ball up the pitch quicker, before the opposition gets everyone back, might help. With the way Leeds press, playing out from the back against them probably isn’t the best idea anyhow.

Lawro’s prediction: 2-0

Dan’s prediction: Everyone has been banging on about how exciting Leeds are because they score a lot of goals but I think they have been figured out a bit now, and they play so open. When we beat them 6-2 before Christmas, it was like they only had nine players on the pitch. 1-2

West Ham v Burnley

West Ham v Burnley (15:00 GMT)

As ever, Burnley were extremely competitive against Manchester United on Tuesday and it took a moment of high quality from Paul Pogba to beat them.

The Clarets don’t change, and they will make things difficult for West Ham on Saturday too but they have been short of goals on the road with just four in eight league games so far this season.

I don’t see them creating much here, either. West Ham have been playing well and they should pick up three points.

Lawro’s prediction: 2-0

Dan’s prediction: Burnley can grind games out but I don’t see them finishing anything. I’ve actually been quite impressed when I’ve seen West Ham this season. 1-0

Fulham v Chelsea

Fulham v Chelsea (17:30 GMT)

Fulham have drawn their past five league games, which shows their improvement even if they are still not winning games – they have made themselves far more difficult to beat, and are a lot harder to play against.

Chelsea have hit a bit of a sticky patch in the league so last weekend’s FA Cup win over Morecambe will have given them a bit of a lift – in that they played well, scored some goals and won.

I’m expecting them to win at Craven Cottage too. I think part of the problem for the Blues was a lack of confidence – a bit like Arsenal when they were on that bad run before Christmas – but lack of ability is not the issue for Frank Lampard’s side.

Lawro’s prediction: 0-2

Dan’s prediction: Fulham looked all right when they came back against Tottenham on Wednesday and I thought they were going to win that game. I can definitely see them getting another draw here. 1-1

Leicester v Southampton

Leicester v Southampton (20:00 GMT)

Southampton have not lost on the road since they were beaten at Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season. Saints don’t change the way they play and press teams, and it works for them.

Leicester’s form at home is nowhere near as impressive as it is away, but Jamie Vardy is fit, and I fancy the Foxes here.

Lawro’s prediction: 2-0

Dan’s prediction: Leicester are on a good little run. I think they are going to score early, and I can see Jamie Vardy having a good day. 3-1

SUNDAY

Aston Villa v Everton

Aston Villa v Everton (12:30 GMT)

This game has been postponed because of ongoing Covid-19 issues at Aston Villa.

Sheff Utd v Tottenham

Sheff Utd v Tottenham (14:05 GMT)

Sheffield United got their first league win of the season against Newcastle on Tuesday, and they played well too.

I remember the last time these two teams met in the summer, when Harry Kane had a goal ruled out by VAR because of an inadvertent handball by Lucas Moura, who had the ball kicked against his arm after he was tripped.

That was one of the strangest – and worst – VAR decisions we have seen, and it led to a 3-1 Blades win.

Tottenham 1-1 Fulham: Spurs should have ‘killed’ the game – Mourinho

There could be more frustration for Tottenham here. They are not on a great run, while Blades will be bouncing a little bit.

Spurs have dropped quite a few points from winning positions, including Wednesday’s draw with Fulham. It’s not a massive surprise, that they are not getting the goals to finish teams off though.

Going forward, they have got two world class forwards in Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, but not a lot else. They can’t rely on those two every single week.

Lawro’s prediction: 1-1

Dan’s prediction: Tottenham have not been playing too well recently and have let some points slip away – I don’t think they will let that happen again here. 0-3

Liverpool v Man Utd

Liverpool v Man Utd (16:30 GMT)

We’ve not had fans at football matches for many months now, but It will still feel strange for Liverpool to be at home to Manchester United with both teams at the top of the table, and with no-one in the ground.

A lot of the time these fixtures promise a lot but turn into nothing games. I am expecting this one to be lively, though.

United have got momentum and will pose a number of problems for Liverpool’s defence, because of the pace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have up front, and the guile and passing of Bruno Fernandes.

Solskjaer praises Pogba display as United go top of the league

Liverpool are going through an indifferent spell, but they have not suddenly become a bad side. They will create chances, too. They just need to take them this time.

Liverpool’s home form is obviously hugely impressive – they have not lost at Anfield in the league since April 2017 – and so is United’s unbeaten away record this season.

I am going for a draw, which would keep both of those runs going.

Lawro’s prediction: 1-1

Dan’s prediction: I am not massively confident about United’s title chances but it is nice that we are up there and in the mixer. As far as this game goes, I was reading about how the referee Paul Tierney has awarded United five penalties in his past 10 matches, and has never given a spot-kick to Liverpool. I have got a feeling that it is going to be 1-1 until quite late in the game and then we are going to have Bruno Fernandes stepping up in the 85th minute to put away a penalty that gives us the win. 1-2

Man City v Crystal Palace

Man City v Crystal Palace (19:15 GMT)

Manchester City have got a run of league fixtures coming up where in normal circumstances you would expect them to win all of them – after this game they play Aston Villa (h), West Brom (a), Sheffield United (h) and Burnley (a).

But their games are coming thick and fast and, somewhere along the line, City are going to drop points. Everyone else has been doing it, so it doesn’t matter very much – my point is that we are not going to see a runaway winner of the Premier League this season.

Foden is so clever in front of goal – Guardiola

Of course, in isolation, I am going to back City to win this game. They ended up hanging on against Brighton in midweek but they still got the job done.

You know how Palace will set up, and they will be very well organised. I still expect City to find a way through.

Lawro’s prediction: 3-0

Dan’s prediction: City didn’t finish their chances against Brighton on Wednesday but they are playing well at the moment. I can see them scoring a few early on, then relaxing – which is when Palace will get one back. 4-1

MONDAY

Arsenal v Newcastle (20:00 GMT)

Arsenal v Newcastle

These two teams met in the FA Cup last week, when Arsenal needed extra time to get through. I don’t expect the Gunners to make such hard work of a win second time around.

Newcastle are on a bad run of eight games without a win, and they are not playing well either. The Magpies are quite a negative team at the best of times, but they have not been creating very much recently.

They were awful in the first half of Tuesday’s defeat by Sheffield United, and it feels like if you score first against them, they don’t really know what to do.

They have not offered much going forward, so I totally understand why their fans are frustrated, but I do have some sympathy for Newcastle boss Steve Bruce.

When Bruce got the job in July 2019, his remit was to keep Newcastle in the Premier League. That hasn’t changed, so you have to look at how he is doing from that perspective.

Lawro’s prediction: 2-0

Dan’s prediction: YMAS singer Josh Franceschi is an Arsenal season ticket holder and as a band we talk about football a lot. He doesn’t like watching Arsenal play United with me because we have done so well against them in recent years. We were in Australia together when United beat them 8-2 at Old Trafford in 2011 – because of the time difference, it was at some ridiculous o’clock in the morning. I loved it, he obviously didn’t enjoy it quite so much. They beat United before Christmas, but I don’t think that was a bad thing – that kind of clicked us into gear because we have had some great results since that game.

Just for Josh, I am going to for Newcastle here – they are going to go 1-0 up, Arsenal are going to come back into the game and equalise but then they are going to throw it away and bottle it – Andy Carroll with the late winner off his nut. 1-2

Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.

How did Lawro do last time?

From the midweek Premier League games, Lawro got three correct results from five matches, with no exact scores, for a total of 30 points.

He beat Shame drummer Charlie Forbes, who got two correct results with no exact scores, to give him a total of 20 points.

This set of games included Burnley versus Manchester United, which was postponed from the first week of the season when Celeste was the guest. She went for a 3-1 United win so their 1-0 victory gives her an extra 10 points.

Lawro's League Table graphic

TEAM P W D L PTS +/-
1 Man Utd 17 14 2 1 44 0
2 Man City 16 13 3 0 42 +1
3 Liverpool 17 12 4 1 40 -1
4 Chelsea 17 12 3 0 39 +5
5 Tottenham 17 11 2 4 35 +1
6 Leeds 17 11 1 5 34 +6
7 Arsenal 18 10 3 5 33 +4
8 Leicester 17 10 2 5 32 -4
9 Wolves 18 5 7 6 22 +5
10 Southampton 17 6 2 9 20 -3
=11 Burnley 16 5 4 7 19 +5
=11 West Ham 17 5 4 8 19 -1
13 Brighton 18 5 3 10 18 +4
14 Everton 17 3 8 6 17 -9
=15 Crystal Palace 18 4 4 10 16 -2
=15 Newcastle 17 5 1 11 16 0
17 Aston Villa 15 3 4 8 13 -9
18 Sheff Utd 18 3 3 12 12 +2
19 Fulham 16 2 0 14 6 -1
20 West Brom 17 0 2 15 2 -1

GUEST LEADERBOARD 2020-21

110 Sister Bliss, Amy Macdonald, Steve White
90 Adam Devonshire, Becky Hill
80 Raye
72 Lawro (average after 18 weeks)
70 Celeste, Peter Hooton
60 Caroline Weir
50 Declan McKenna, Paul Smith, DJ Target
40 Gavin ‘Mo’ Edgeley
30 Rick Astley, Fraser T. Smith
20 Dougie Payne
0 Rema
Lawro 1,300
Guests 1,080
P18 W11 D1 L6

Sourced From BBC

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