Liverpool fans will be hoping for a huge favour from their old rivals Manchester United on Wednesday when they host the Reds’ title rivals Manchester City.
Anything less than a victory for the defending Premier League champions will hand Liverpool the advantage in the title race.
Will City slip up? BBC football expert Mark Lawrenson says “no”.
“I think Pep Guardiola’s side will go to Old Trafford and win,” he explained.
“Their second half against Spurs on Saturday was the worst I’ve seen them play all season but in many ways it was a positive performance from them because it showed they are capable of getting over the line to get the three points.”
Lawro is making predictions for all 380 top-flight matches this season, against a variety of guests.
For the midweek fixtures he is up against Ten Tonnes, aka singer-songwriter Ethan Barnett.
Barnett is a Manchester United fan who is happy to have Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the wheel, despite his side’s recent drop-off in results.
“When Ole was playing was when I was growing up and watching United with my dad, so he has always been a hero of mine,” he said.
“My cousin is a Liverpool fan and has been sending me all sorts of texts in the past week because our past few results have not been great – but Ole is still the right man to turn things around.”
Barnett is a United fan because of his dad, but did not inherit his sporty genes and says he is not much of a footballer himself.
“My dad is a PE teacher who is also into his music,” Barnett explained.
“I never really played much myself and I am not the most sporty man. I got all of my dad’s musical side, and none of the athleticism.”
| Premier League predictions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Lawro | Ten Tonnes | |
| TUESDAY | |||
| Tottenham v Brighton | x-x | 2-0 | 2-1 |
| Watford v Southampton | x-x | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| WEDNESDAY | |||
| Wolves v Arsenal | x-x | 2-0 | 0-2 |
| Man Utd v Man City | x-x | 0-2 | 3-0 |
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO’S PREDICTIONS
All kick-offs 19:45 BST unless stated.
TUESDAY
Tottenham v Brighton
Brighton got a good draw against Wolves on Saturday, and their superior goal difference means they are essentially four points above Cardiff.
The Seagulls probably need one more win to stay up, because I cannot see the Bluebirds winning their final three games, but they are far more likely to get it against Newcastle this weekend than in north London.
| Battle to stay up – remaining fixtures | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | Brighton | Southampton | Burnley |
| Fulham (a) | Tottenham (a) | Watford (a) | Man Utd (h) |
| Crystal Palace (h) | Newcastle (h) | Bournemouth (h) | Everton (a) |
| Man Utd (a) | Arsenal (a) | West Ham (a) | Arsenal (h) |
| Man City (h) | Huddersfield (h) | ||
Tottenham have won all three of their games at their new stadium, and it is hard to see them slipping up here.
It is always a big occasion for Brighton boss Chris Hughton when he goes back to Spurs, where he spent many years as a player and coach, but his Brighton side cannot score a goal at the moment – they have not managed one in their past six matches.
Spurs have got their Champions League semi-final to think about as well as trying to secure a top-four place, but they look like they should get enough from their remaining games – even without Harry Kane.
| Race for the top four – remaining fixtures | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tottenham | Arsenal | Chelsea | Man Utd |
| Brighton (h) | Wolves (a) | Burnley (h) | Man City (h) |
| West Ham (h) | Leicester (a) | Man Utd (a) | Chelsea (h) |
| Bournemouth (a) | Brighton (h) | Watford (h) | Huddersfield (a) |
| Everton (h) | Burnley (a) | Leicester (a) | Cardiff (h) |
I was at Etihad Stadium on Saturday and, although Tottenham lost to City, they had enough chances to take at least a point.
I would expect them to have plenty more opportunities against Brighton too. It should be a pretty straightforward evening for them.
Lawro’s prediction: 2-0
Ten Tonnes’ prediction: I grew up in Hertford and many of my mates are Tottenham fans, so I hear a lot about them. 2-1
Watford v Southampton
Southampton are another team who have got a bit of work to do to be sure of staying up, although they have got a final-day fixture at home to Huddersfield to fall back on if they are still not safe by then.
Saints were rolled over by Newcastle on Saturday and this is another tough game for them.
Watford’s win over the Terriers at the weekend kept them in the thick of the race to be ‘best of the rest’ and a point here would lift them above Everton and into seventh place.
Lawro’s prediction: 1-1
Ten Tonnes’ prediction: 1-1
WEDNESDAY
Wolves v Arsenal
Wolves were held by Brighton on Saturday and it seems they struggle to beat teams who just sit in against them.
That is something for Nuno Espirito Santo to sort out for next season, but I don’t think it will be a problem on Wednesday because Arsenal will go at them.
Arsenal could well end up winning the Europa League but they have had the same problem all season: massive issues defensively, as we saw again in Sunday’s defeat by Crystal Palace.
Lawro’s prediction: 2-0
Ten Tonnes’ prediction: 0-2
Man Utd v Man City (20:00 BST)
United were dire against Everton on Sunday and had no stomach for the fight. You look at some of their players and it is as if the season cannot end quickly enough for them.
I am sure they will be better against City because the home fans will be angry and the United players will be driven to produce a performance.
But they do not seem to have the quality to really frighten teams any more, especially the defending champions, who need three points to stay in control of the title race.
| Race for the Premier League title | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Liverpool fixtures | Date | Man City fixtures |
| 24 April | Manchester United (A) | ||
| 26 April | Huddersfield (H) | 28 April | Burnley (A) |
| 4 May | Newcastle (A) | 6 May | Leicester (H) |
| 12 May | Wolves (H) | 12 May | Brighton (A) |
United boss Solskjaer will have known he had a lot of work to do in the summer – but the Norwegian faces a massive job to turn the club around.
The decisions taken in the summer about who stays, who goes and who they sign are going to be the most important for United for a long, long time.
Ultimately, that is what is going to decide where they are going to be in the next few years – because United are going to be chasing Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea again next season, let alone Liverpool and City.
The finishing line is in sight for City now, and seeing Kevin de Bruyne pick up another injury on Saturday was a big blow.
City are still winning games – they have won 10 in a row in the Premier League – but I don’t know why Pep Guardiola is picking Ilkay Gundogan in midfield ahead of Fernandinho.
Without Fernandinho, Spurs looked like they could slice through City’s back four at any time when they counter-attacked in both games they played at the Etihad last week.
I think United will play on the break too, because that is almost the only way they can play at the moment. However, I don’t see it working for them.
This is a lot like a Champions League game in terms of the quality of the opposition for United and we saw in their home games against Paris St-Germain and Barcelona how they could not get the ball, and without it they could not do anything.
That is the way I see Wednesday going, with City dominating possession, creating more chances – and picking United off.
Lawro’s prediction: 0-2
Ten Tonnes’ prediction: I spoke to my dad about this and he said, ‘you have just got to go all in and back United’. City are obviously favourites, but I am going with Ole. 3-0
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
Lawro got three correct results including one perfect score from 10 games, for a total of 60 points.
He has lost to a super-computer – called ‘RED’. who got four correct results including one perfect score, for a total of 70 points.
| Total scores after week 35 | |
|---|---|
| Lawro | 2,960 |
| Guests | 2,540 |
| Lawro v Guests | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| P35 | W17 | D4 | L14 |
| +/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO’S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | PTS | +/- | |
| 1 | Man City | 34 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 96 | +1 |
| =2 | Liverpool | 35 | 24 | 11 | 0 | 83 | -1 |
| =2 | Man Utd | 34 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 83 | +4 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 35 | 22 | 6 | 7 | 69 | +1 |
| 5 | Tottenham | 34 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 68 | -2 |
| 6 | Leicester | 35 | 19 | 5 | 11 | 62 | +3 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 34 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 59 | -3 |
| 8 | Everton | 35 | 17 | 5 | 13 | 56 | -1 |
| 9 | Burnley | 35 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 49 | +6 |
| 10 | Newcastle | 35 | 13 | 7 | 15 | 46 | +3 |
| 11 | Wolves | 34 | 13 | 3 | 18 | 42 | -1 |
| 12 | West Ham | 35 | 11 | 5 | 19 | 38 | -1 |
| =13 | Bournemouth | 35 | 10 | 7 | 18 | 37 | +1 |
| =13 | Watford | 34 | 11 | 4 | 19 | 37 | -5 |
| 15 | Crystal Palace | 35 | 8 | 8 | 19 | 32 | -3 |
| 16 | Southampton | 33 | 9 | 3 | 22 | 30 | 0 |
| =17 | Brighton | 34 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 29 | 0 |
| =17 | Fulham | 35 | 8 | 5 | 22 | 29 | +2 |
| 19 | Huddersfield | 35 | 3 | 6 | 26 | 15 | +1 |
| 20 | Cardiff | 34 | 3 | 5 | 27 | 14 | -2 |
GUEST LEADERBOARD 2018-19
| SCORE | GUEST LEADERBOARD |
|---|---|
| 160 | David Ginola |
| 140 | The 1975’s Ross MacDonald |
| 120 | Joe Thomas |
| 110 | Tom Kerridge, Yatez |
| 90 | Jim Glennie, Mario Hezonja, Karl Pilkington, Chris Stark |
| 85 | Lawro (average after 35 weeks) |
| 80 | Adebayo Akinfenwa, Richard Ashcroft, Dina Asher-Smith, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg James, Johnny Marr*, Mark Wahlberg |
| 70 | Matt Fitzpatrick, RED, Yungen |
| 60 | Jamie Dornan & Paul Conroy, Idris Elba, Tom McFarland, Dolph Lundgren, Mumford & Sons, Dillian Whyte |
| 50 | Bring Me The Horizon, Theo Ellis, Drew McIntyre, Mohamed Sanu, Dolph Ziggler |
| 40 | Tom Grennan, Josh Warrington, Taka |
| 30 | Ryan Fitzpatrick, Danny Howard*, Oti Mabuse, Scott Mills |
| 20 | Yizzy |
*Score will be updated when full programme of games are completed
Lawro’s best score: 260 points (week seven v Karl Pilkington)
Lawro’s worst score: 20 points (week 24 v Grime star Yizzy, week 25 v Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarter-back Ryan Fitzpatrick and Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu, and week 31 against Radio 1 DJ Danny Howard)
