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Premier League predictions: Lawro v rapper & Arsenal fan Jelani Blackman
Michael Carrick won his first game as Manchester United's temporary manager, at Villarreal on Tuesday, but how will he fare at Stamford Bridge in what is expected to be his last game in charge before Ralf Rangnick arrives as interim boss?
Chelsea are top of the Premier League table, 12 points ahead of United and on a 10-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
"Not only are Chelsea winning most of their games, they are playing extremely well too," said BBC Sport football expert Mark Lawrenson. "It's a very big ask for United to get anything on Sunday, whoever is in their dugout."
Image source, BBC Sport
Lawro is making predictions for all 380 top-flight matches this season, against a variety of guests.
This week's guest is rapper and Arsenal fan Jelani Blackman, whose debut 12-track project, Unlimited Mixtape, was released in October.
Image source, Jelani Blackman
Jelani grew up in west London but his dad supported the Gunners and made sure he did likewise.
"There were a lot of Chelsea fans about so he gave me a bit of a hard steer and gave me a yellow Arsenal shirt with JVC on the front," he told BBC Sport.
"That started it, and as I got into it I was lucky because it was the time of the Thierry Henry generation and we were great to watch. I just got swept along by all of that.
"People like Henry, Freddie Ljungberg and Patrick Vieira were my heroes. It feels like the kind of energy they had is back now, with the new generation of players at Arsenal.
"We had lost that for a little bit but if you go through our team now, whether they are kids who have come through or recent signings, we have got the spirit of the old Arsenal back."
Image source, Jelani Blackman
Jelani puts Arsenal's recent revival down to manager Mikel Arteta and is confident that their improved form so far this season - last week's defeat at Liverpool was their first in 10 games in all competitions - will last this time.
"It's been great to see the team find their feet under Arteta because he had a really hard time last season," he added. "We've been a lot more consistent and that is a sign of progress.
"A lot of people were losing faith in him, but not me. I don't think people give managers enough time before saying it is time for a change, and when you do that you basically have to start again.
"You can see how much Arteta has improved us, so I'm really glad we stuck with him. We're still not a side that can flick a switch and really dominate games in the way, say, Liverpool and Manchester City do it, but we have their hunger and there's also no way you could call us a soft touch any more."
Premier League predictions - week 13 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Result | Lawro | Jelani | |
SATURDAY | |||
Arsenal v Newcastle | 2-0 | 2-0 | 2-1 |
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa | 1-2 | 1-1 | 2-0 |
Liverpool v Southampton | 4-0 | 2-0 | 4-0 |
Norwich v Wolves | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-2 |
Brighton v Leeds | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2-2 |
SUNDAY | |||
Brentford v Everton | 1-0 | 2-1 | 0-2 |
Burnley v Tottenham | P-P | 1-2 | 1-0 |
Leicester v Watford | 4-2 | 3-0 | 3-2 |
Man City v West Ham | 2-1 | 2-0 | 2-2 |
Chelsea v Man Utd | 1-1 | 2-1 | 3-1 |
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
Image source, BBC Sport
Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Jelani's prediction: This is a much harder game than it would have been a few weeks ago but I am still pretty confident. We have been playing well and have got some consistency with our results too. I don't think last weekend's defeat by Liverpool is a fair reflection of where we are at, and I don't think it will knock our belief either. 2-1
Image source, BBC Sport
Crystal Palace 1-2 Aston Villa
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Jelani's prediction: I'm a huge Vieira fan and it's really good to see him doing so well. He has completely turned things around at Palace and they are looking really confident. I like Palace because he's there, but also because I really like their identity as a team - they are really good to watch. 2-0
Image source, BBC Sport
Liverpool 4-0 Southampton
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Jelani's prediction: Liverpool could do a lot of damage - I'm going for some goals here. 4-0
Image source, BBC Sport
Norwich 0-0 Wolves
Lawro's prediction: 1-1
Jelani's prediction: Every team that has changed their manager this season seems to have seen it make an instant impact, Norwich included, so I can see why clubs have done it. It felt a bit harsh to see Smith lose his job at Aston Villa though, because he was trying to build something. I hope he gets the chance to do that at Norwich, but their problem is that their squad looks too good for the Championship but not good enough for the Premier League. I'm going with a Wolves win but the Canaries are at home and they might pinch a goal. 1-2
Image source, BBC Sport
Brighton 0-0 Leeds
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
Jelani's prediction: Leeds are a bit 'win or bust' but Brighton do like a draw. 2-2
SUNDAY
Image source, BBC Sport
Brentford 1-0 Everton
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Jelani's prediction: Everton have been struggling but I still think they have got a better squad than Brentford. 0-2
Image source, BBC Sport
Burnley P-P Tottenham
Lawro's prediction: 1-2
Jelani's prediction: This is just because I'd like to see it happen, but I am going with a Burnley win. They could actually do it too. 1-0
Image source, BBC Sport
Leicester 4-2 Watford
Lawro's prediction: 3-0
Jelani's prediction: Leicester have not really got going yet this season but they will be looking at the table and thinking they are still in the race for the Champions League places. They are going to burst into life at some point, surely. 3-2
Image source, BBC Sport
Manchester City 2-1
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
Jelani's prediction: David Moyes has really built something at West Ham and I think they can get something here. They can hold City, unless City are having a very good day. 2-2
Image source, BBC Sport
Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Jelani's prediction: I can't see them stopping Chelsea, who are just so dominant at the moment, but it is going to be interesting to see what happens with Manchester United in the weeks to come because their squad is incredible. Where they end up might make or break our hopes of a top-four place because I think our fight is going to be with them. 3-1
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last week?
Last week, Lawro got four correct results from 10 matches, with two exact scores, for a total of 100 points.
He beat singer-songwriter Zuzu, who got three correct results with no exact scores, for a total of 30 points.
Image source, BBC Sport
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
1 | Man City | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 32 | +1 |
2 | Man Utd | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 29 | +6 |
=3 | Leicester | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 28 | +9 |
=3 | Liverpool | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
5 | Chelsea | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 26 | -4 |
6 | Leeds | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 25 | +11 |
7 | Aston Villa | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 22 | +8 |
8 | Tottenham | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 20 | -1 |
9 | West Ham | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 19 | -5 |
10 | Brighton | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 18 | -1 |
11 | Arsenal | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 16 | -6 |
12 | Newcastle | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 | +8 |
=13 | Wolves | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 11 | -7 |
=13 | Southampton | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 0 |
15 | Burnley | 12 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 10 | +3 |
16 | Everton | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 9 | -5 |
=17 | Brentford | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | -3 |
=17 | Crystal Palace | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | -7 |
=19 | Norwich | 12 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
=19 | Watford | 12 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 3 | -3 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2021-22
Score | Guest |
|---|---|
110 | Friction, She Drew The Gun |
80 | Tom McFarland |
78 | Lawro (average after 12 weeks) |
70 | Elena Cole |
60 | Haydn Craven |
50 | Aqib Khan, Shaun Thomas |
40 | Dan Haggis of The Wombats, Murray & Tav from FUR, Justin Young |
30 | Michael 'Venom' Page, Roger Taylor, Zuzu |
10 | Tom Hughes |
Total scores after week 12 | |
|---|---|
Lawro | 930 |
Guests | 630 |
Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
P12 | W9 | D2 | L1 |
Image source, BBC Sport
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Image source, BBC Sport