Before each set of Premier League fixtures, I have a look at ‘BBC football expert’, Mark Lawrenson’s predictions. Every week I have the same reaction. I reckon I could do better. Season after season I complain about his ‘woeful’ tipping. Now it’s time to put my proverbial money where my mouth is and try to ‘beat Lawro’.
The points: 1 point for a correct result and 3 points for a correct score.
LAST WEEK
Very good week’s tipping last week. I managed to correctly predict Everton’s 3-1 victory over Southampton, Stoke’s 2-0 win over Swansea and Aston Villa’s 1-1 draw with West Brom. Check out last weeks tips to see how we both did.
Lawro got four results right, including one perfect score with a score of 4.
I managed six results right, including three perfect scores with a score of 12.
After three weeks of tipping the scores currently stand at:
Liquid Football 32-21 Lawro
Don’t forget the BETTING TIPS at the bottom of the page, we are £130 UP after 2 weeks.
SATURDAY
Man City v Sunderland
I said it last week and I’ll say it again. Manchester City have yet to really hit their stride. I thought they would do that last week against Fulham, but they scraped a 2-1 win with a late Edin Dzeko goal. They were even more unconvincing, only just managing to nick a last minute equaliser at home to Borrussia Dortmund midweek. It says something about their performance, that Joe Hart was man of the match pulling of a number of outstanding saves to keep them in the game.
Sunderland will not be easy opponents, still unbeaten this season, although unconvincing last week in a 1-0 win over Wigan. Sunderland were the only side last season that City couldn’t beat in the league. They drew 3-3 at The Etihad and lost 1-0 at The Stadium of Light. I still see Man City shading this one, but it could be a tight game. Adam Johnson will feel he has something to prove, so expect a big performance from him.
My prediction: 2-1
Lawro’s prediction: 2-0
Chelsea v Norwich
This has been a very good week for Chelsea. The win against Arsenal may not have been the cleanest of performances, but it was a fantastic result. The greatest sides find a way to win when they are not playing that well and Chelsea did exactly that. I am not suggesting they are a great side yet, but they have definitely added an attacking flare to the team in the summer. They followed the win over Arsenal with a 4-0 thumping of FC Nordsjælland in the Champions League too.
I fear for Norwich in this one, they have conceded at least 3 goals in their past 4 matches at Stamford Bridge. They were very poor in their 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool and I don’t see them picking up anything from this one either. I can’t see anything that suggests that Norwich will stay up this season. Grant Holt has again been complaining about not being picked for England, but he should really concentrate on producing for Norwich because his goals kept them up last year and he hasn’t looked anywhere near his best.
My prediction: 3-0
Lawro’s prediction: 2-0
Swansea v Reading
Swansea were a revelation at the start of the season, but they are in a bit of a rut now. They have failed to score in their last 3 Premier League games. This will be a huge game for Michael Laudrup’s Swansea to show that they weren’t just on a hot streak. Reading are the weakest of the promoted sides by the looks of it. They gave a spirited performance against Newcastle last week in drawing 2-2 with Newcastle, and if it wasn’t for the brilliance of Demba Ba they would have taken all 3 points.
In many ways this is a must win for both sides, but I see Reading taking a point which will be a better result for them than Swansea who will be expecting to win the game.
My prediction: 1-1
Lawro’s prediction: 1-1
West Brom v QPR
West Brom are the unsung heroes of the season so far. Not much has been said about them, but Steve Clarke’s side have made a great start. They have only lost once, and are sitting comfortably in 6th place. QPR on the other hand, are really struggling. Mark Hughes has had plenty of financial backing, and they should be picking up more points with the players they have. It won’t be long before he starts really feeling the pressure. West Brom have won all 3 of their home matches this season, and QPR have lost 9 of the last 10 away from home. This has home win written all over it.
My prediction: 2-0
Lawro’s prediction: 2-1
Wigan v Everton
What a start to the season for Everton. 2nd in the league behind Chelsea, they are playing very good football, and bar the loss of the monumental loss of Fellaini, finally look to have some real depth to their squad. I have been very impressed by the new signing Kevin Mirallas, very quick, can play on the wing or up front, he works hard and looks like he scores a few goals too. He is a very good foil for the brilliant Nikica Jelavic, who is a brilliant finisher.
Wigan are in 16th place, and I suspect that if they finish the league season there they will be happy. This season like every other is about staying up. Even though Wigan put in a good performance away to Sunderland, I still think Everton will be too strong. It will be pretty tight.
My prediction: 1-2
Lawro’s prediction: 1-2
West Ham v Arsenal
Arsene Wenger has had many opponents during his time at Arsenal, but ‘Big Sam’ Allardyce may just be one of the toughest. His record in home matches against Arsenal is 5-3-4, which is unlikely to have been bettered by many. It is as much the style of football that his teams play, as opposed to tactical nous. Arsenal used to dread trips to The Reebok Stadium to meet ‘Big Sam’s’ Bolton and he has created a similar side at Upton Park. Marshalled by the consistently dangerous Kevin Nolan, West Ham provide threats in every supposed area of Arsenal weakness. The return of Andy Carroll will also worry Arsenal, he has caused them many problems in the past.
Arsenal have not had a good week. They were poor against Chelsea last weekend. In a game that they would have gone into feeling very confident, they looked lackluster and they gifted Chelsea two goals. They were second rate against Olympiakos too, despite coming out 3-1 winers. They have started to look shaky at the back and their weakness in defending set pieces and corners will be a real concern against West Ham. Steve Bould will have worked hard during the week getting the defence up to scratch, but they conceded another header against Olympiako and that will be a worry. Per Mertesacker should be reintroduced in place of Koscielny and they will need his experience and organisation as well as his height at the back. Giroud could well be key on the weekend, both up front and at the back defending set plays. Expect him to start.
This is a very tough game to pick as Arsenal have the quality to produce enough chances to beat West Ham regardless of defensive frailties. I can see it going either way, but I am going to go for an upset. Nolan will relish the opportunity and I think he and Carroll will lead West Ham to an unlikely victory.
My prediction: 2-1
Lawro’s prediction: 1-1
SUNDAY
Southampton v Fulham
I was really pleased for Southampton when they got their first win of the season against Aston Villa a couple of weeks ago, but it was back down to earth with a bump last week as Everton beat them 3-1 pretty comfortably. Gaston Ramirez scored first but it was all Everton for the rest of the game and they really could have scored more than 3 in the end. One thing that Southampton offer is goals, whether for against, I think this could be a high scoring game. Fulham have been a touch inconsistent, but they were unlucky not to get a point against Man City last weekend and Mladen Petric and Bryan Ruiz look to be forming a good partnership. Southampton will be hoping to get all 3 points at home especially as Fulham are still missing Dimitar Berbatov and I can see them doing that.
My prediction: 3-2
Lawro’s prediction: 2-0
Liverpool v Stoke
Liverpool seem to be taking one step forward then two steps back. As much as Brendan Rodgers will be disappointed with the loss against Udinese, his main focus will be on the league and that was evident as Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard were on the bench for the Europa League tie. I may sound like a broken record, but Liverpool are going nowhere until they can find a consistent goalscorer. Suarez scored a brilliant hat-trick against Norwich last week, but he is infuriatingly inconsistent in front of goal. This will be a tricky game as Stoke will look to frustrate Liverpool and they will need to be at their best in front of goal to break down Tony Pulis’ side. I can see Liverpool winning, but I think it may be a nervy one.
My prediction: 1-0
Lawro’s prediction: 2-0
Tottenham v Aston Villa
Spurs recorded their first win in 23 years at Old Trafford last week. Remarkably they only had 26% possession yet still came away with the points. They look very dangerous on the break, and they attack with a lot of pace. Aston Villa will be looking to not give Spurs as much space to play in, they will be sitting deeper and they may well find it harder to break a team down at White Hart Lane, as they have showed so far with disappointing draws at home to QPR and Norwich. I still think Tottenham will be too strong for Villa though and I think if they can break the deadlock early then they could run out comfortable winners.
My prediction: 3-1
Lawro’s prediction: 2-0
Newcastle v Man Utd
This is going to be a cracking game. Man Utd have a glittering attack with Wayne Rooney back, joining Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa, but their defence looks very brittle. Nemanja Vidic is a huge loss and Rio Ferdinand looks to be on his last legs. He was very vulnerable when left defending against the pace of Gareth Bale, and Newcastle will be hoping that Hatem Ben Arfa will get a chance to run at him too. Demba Ba looks to be in brilliant form once again, and I think Newcastle will cause Man U a lot of problems.
Although United lost last weekend against Spurs, they did manage to control 74% of the possession, and if van Persie had had his shooting boots on they could have come out on top. He missed a number of glorious chances to at least get Man U level. I am going for another upset in this one though, Newcastle got a very imressive 3-0 victory over Bordeaux on Thursday night and with Demba Ba firing they could nick a victory. However, they will have to keep RvP quiet, as anything can happen when he is on the pitch.
My prediction: 2-1
Lawro’s prediction: 1-1
BETTING TIPS:
We suggest putting £10 on each choice at betfair. Our First goalscorer bet on Steven Fletcher won last week at 4/1, leaving us £40 up for the week and £130 up overall.
First Goalscorer: Demba Ba – Newcastle v Man U at 7/1 on betfair.
Accumulator: Southampton, West Brom, Tottenham and Liverpool at 9/1 on betfair.
Thoughts and comments welcome, all support appreciated!
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