Mid week predictions

Well, it would appear there are no Lawro's predictions this week, but I thought I'd do my own anyway

Sunderland v Aston Villa

Tough one, will the Villains be buoyant, or tired? Will Sunderland stutter or come back fighting after a fairly miserable run? I'm going for Villa to take their counter-attacking play to the Black Cats, but it could go either way

1-2

Birmingham v Blackburn

Arguably Birmingham have become the form team with four wins on the trot and three clean sheets within that, while Blackburn are one of the worst sides on the road, on paper this looks obvious

1-0

Bolton v West Ham

Basement battle time - if Bolton can play like they did at the weekend then they should see off the Hammers easily, if not, I don't think the Hammers will bring much anyway

1-0

Manchester United v Wolves

Pick a number between 1 and 10, then stick in front of -nil and you're there, United will no doubt have got a booting for the (deserving) loss to Villa, a bad time for Wolves to visit, if there was ever a good time... I've gone for four

4-0

Burnley v Arsenal

This should be interesting, how will Arsenal cope with Burnley's aggression? How will Burnley handle the four-day break? Depends on which Arsenal side shows up, I guess, Burnley showed a lot of gaps against Fulham

0-1

Chelsea v Portsmouth

Thankyou so much for that draw, Carlo - some fine defending did me very well....I expect a better performance, and even if not - it's Portsmouth, at Stamford Bridge...

3-0

Liverpool v Wigan

Surely this is one game where we can expect Liverpool to pull out a win, at home to Wigan...surely?

2-0

Tottenham v Man City

Now this is a tricky one, first instinct is naturally 'draw' after City's eight in their last nine, and either side could take this, but I've got a feeling Spurs will be resurgent after that shock defeat to Wolves

2-1

Well, that sucked - results week 16

Stoke 2-2 Wigan

Lawro = -1

Tarquin = -1


Birmingham 1-0 West Ham

Lawro = 1.5
Tarquin = 3



Bolton 3-3 City

Lawro = -1
Tarquin = -1


Burnley 1-1 Fulham


Lawro = 3

Tarquin = -1

Chelsea 3-3 Everton


Lawro = -1
Tarquin = -1

Hull 0-0 Blackburn


Lawro = -1
Tarquin = 2


Sunderland 1-1 Portsmouth


Lawro = -1
Tarquin = -1

Tottenham 0-1 Wolves


Lawro = -1
Tarquin = -1

Man United 0-1 Villa


Told you



Lawro = -1
Tarquin = -1

Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal

Lawro = -1
Tarquin = -1

Lawro got 2 right, one perfect score = -3.5
Tarquin got 2 right, one perfect score = -3

 That went well....


16 weeks played, 155 matches
10-6 to Tarquin

Lawro - 78 right, 16 perfects - 43.5 points
Tarquin - 78 right, 13 perfects - 39 points

Beat Lawro week 16

As it stands:

15 weeks played, 145 matches
9-6 to Tarquin

Lawro - 76 right, 15 perfects - 47 points
Tarquin - 76 right, 12 perfects - 42 points

Oh dear oh dear - Lawro's overtaken me and obtained a rare lead, I must improve

Stoke v Wigan (1245 GMT)

Can't say I care much about Beattie shenanigans - two goals all season, both against West Ham, I'm sure the defence can cope with an inconsistent Wigan side and snatch a goal or two


Lawro: 2-0
Tarquin: 2-0

---

Birmingham v West Ham


Birmingham, sitting pretty in 9th thanks to some solid defence, shouldn't be troubled by relegation hopefuls West Ham, whose sole away victory was on opening day, against Wolves. Birmingham have only scored more than once at home on one occasion - in fact their scoring record of five at home is incredible for their top-half position, even Wolves have scored more - and I don't expect West Ham to contribute to a 25% increase in goals conceded at St. Andrews

Lawro: 2-1
Tarquin: 1-0

---

Bolton v Man City


It's about time City turned a corner and they finally did against Chelsea, perfect time to test out if they're capable of a top four finish by going to a side who've only picked up one point in three games.

Lawro: 0-2
Tarquin: 1-2

---

Burnley v Fulham

Apparently 7-goals-in-two-seasons Johnson makes all the difference to Fulham...Lawro must be a supporter of Zamora for England too...But anyway, Burnley could do with a win here, and they don't look like giving it up at home after that draw with Villa 


Lawro: 1-1
Tarquin: 1-0

---

Chelsea v Everton

I would really like a draw here, but I'm too much of a coward to back it, considering Chelsea's form and Everton's frailties, Everton performed a nice comeback against Tottenham last week and hopefully they'll be motivated but Chelsea will surely be too much.

Lawro: 2-0
Tarquin: 2-0

---

Hull v Blackburn

You can never predict Hull (unless they're away in which case they'll lose), but they should be favourites here, Blackburn are woeful on the road, but with the absence of the useful Bullard I think this might end in a draw


Lawro: 1-0
Tarquin: 1-1

---

Sunderland v Portsmouth


I say this every week - Portsmouth have no quality and are bottom of the league for a reason, Sunderland are the highest scorers at home behind the top seven (or is that 'top six and Liverpool'?), and indeed the best side at home outside of the top five, their 'blips' have only really been away - Darren Bent exists to score goals against teams like this, I can't see them scoring less than three.

Lawro: 2-1
Tarquin: 4-1

---

Tottenham v Wolves


Spurs, they have their frailties but at home they're mostly pretty good, and against Wolves there's nothing to discuss

Lawro: 2-0
Tarquin: 3-0

---

Man Utd v Aston Villa (1730 GMT)


A rare loss at Old Trafford could be on the cards here - an injury crisis in the defence could see a powerful attacking side like Villa get some goals - United are still a top side and even with a makeshift teamsheet can win matches, but I'd fancy a strong opponent to do well right now, I am however, a chicken, and going for the draw

Lawro: 1-1
 Tarquin:: 1-1

---

SUNDAY
Liverpool v Arsenal (1600 GMT)


Well this could be interesting, how Liverpool have gone from main rivals to the title to a fairly pathetic December seventh and a round 1 exit from the Champions League while only losing one player is beyond me, but they have. But that said, they can do over anyone on their day, and Arsenal are not good travellers, they're very happy at the Emirates, but weak on the road - and with no RVP (or even Bendtner) I have to favour a Liverpool side who should have Gerrard and Torres available, their weakness is consistency, not individual talent, as always

Lawro: 1-1
Tarquin: 2-1

Beat Lawro Week 15 Results

Portsmouth 2-0 Burnley

Lawro = 3
Tarquin = -1

Arsenal 2-0 Stoke

Lawro = 3
Tarquin = 1

Aston Villa 3-0 Hull

Lawro = 1
Tarquin = 1

Blackburn 0-0 Liverpool

Lawro = -1
Tarquin = -1


West Ham 0-4 Man United

Lawro = 1
Tarquin = 1

Wigan 2-3 Birmingham

Lawro = -1
Tarquin = -1


Wolves 2-1 Bolton

Lawro = 1.5
Tarquin = 1.5


Man City 2-1 Chelsea

Lawro = -1
Tarquin = -1

Fulham 1-0 Sunderland

Lawro = 1.5
Tarquin = 1.5

Everton 2-2 Tottenham

Lawro = 2
Tarquin = -1

Retitling next week to 'predicting missed penalties'

Lawro got 7 right, two perfect = 10pts
Tarquin got 5 right, no perfects = 1 point...


Standings:

15 weeks played, 145 matches
9-6 to Tarquin

Lawro - 76 right, 15 perfects - 47 points
Tarquin - 76 right, 12 perfects - 42 points

Still, long way to go

Beat Lawro week 15

 Standings:

14 weeks played, 135 matches
9-5 to Tarquin

Lawro - 69 right, 13 perfects - 37 points
Tarquin - 71 right, 12 perfects - 41 points
It's not been a good few weeks of late, for anybody - so maybe we can get above half right for once


Portsmouth v Burnley


This is the must-win game for Pompey, I suppose they'll do it, they seem to have goals in them, but I think Burnley will be a match for them - if they can get to 5-3 at West Ham then they can points here, and usually a decent home side gets one away win, here would be the obvious choice. In all honesty, even if Pompey win this, they're gone in May. I can't call it, so I've stupidly gone for a draw


Lawro: 2-0
Tarquin: 1-1

---

Arsenal v Stoke

Arsenal have a habit of banging in the goals against lower sides at home - but Stoke are a mean side and have only conceded more that two once on the road, and that was Liverpool. Saying that, Arsenal are the most free-scoring team if you don't close them down, and all of Stoke's trips were to worse, typically low-scoring sides anyway, so I'll go for three

Lawro: 2-0
Tarquin: 3-0

---

Aston Villa v Hull

Hull remain unpredictable, Villa should win, but you can't rule out the Tigers sneaking a goal in, nevertheless, smart money is on a straightforward win

Lawro: 2-0
Tarquin: 2-0

---

Blackburn v Liverpool

Penalty shoot-outs always knacker a team out, and Blackburn don't have reserves to call on, so you would think Liverpool can turn over their neighbours, just might be the right time to defeat Blackburn for the first time at home since opening day.


Lawro: 0-1
Tarquin: 1-2

---

West Ham v Man Utd


Got to be United, but their luck will eventually run out and there will come a lower team who gets the better of them, I don't think that'll be this week though, unpredictable one, this.

Lawro: 1-3
Tarquin: 0-2

---

Wigan v Birmingham

Wigan have impressed at home lately, and Birmingham aren't all that on the road - a solid outfit, yes, but they've only beaten Wolves and Hull away, Wigan should win this on their day

Lawro: 1-1
Tarquin: 1-0

---

Wolves v Bolton

Nice six-pointer, I've gone for Wolves to pick up their first win since September, but this could go either way quite easily (and a draw would be unhelpful for all concerned, so they probably will)

Lawro: 1-0
Tarquin: 1-0

---

Man City v Chelsea (1730 GMT)


Stop copying me, Lawro! It just drags me down - this is really hard to call, on the one hand Chelsea should be expected to win, on the other City have drawn seven in a row and just seem to want to draw - whether it's tying a big team and not rolling over, or letting a small team in, they seem to actually aim for it, meanwhile Chelsea haven't drawn all season, but I think I have to back the Chelsea win here, but should be tight (Arsenal should have been tight too)

Lawro: 1-2
Tarquin: 1-2

---

SUNDAY
Fulham v Sunderland

Oh for god's sake...

Lawro: 2-1
Tarquin: 2-1

---

Everton v Tottenham

I'm not sure about this - do Everton even have a team anymore? Their defence in particular seems to be on the treatment table more than the pitch - but I hear Distin should play, and Tottenham are hardly solid at the back, nor do they travel well, I'm sticking my neck out and going for a rare Everton win, no idea why...

Lawro: 1-1
Tarquin: 1-0

World Cup groups announced

...by me!

(This is completely fictional)

Here's what I drew

Group 1:

S. Africa
Japan
Chile
Slovakia

Group 2:

Italy
S.Korea
Paraguay
Portugal

Group 3:

Spain
Mexico
Ghana
Slovenia

Group 4:

Germany
New Zealand
Cameroon
Greece

Group 5:

Argentina
N.Korea
Nigeria
France

Group 6:

Brazil
Australia
Ivory Coast
Switzerland

Group 7:

Netherlands
Honduras
Uruuay
Denmark

Group 8:

England
US
Algeria
Serbia

Reasonably varied, Group A is a joke - and is likely to be in reality, that's what happens when you seed the bottom ranked team (86th) in the cup, it would be amusing if New Zealand and North Korea get in too - open season for a minor European side

Personally I think it would be best if France and Portugal avoided that group though, it would be nice to see a team like Slovakia progress for once, it wouldn't be unfair either

Strangely I didn't pick a 'group of death' - although whatever happens one will be labelled as such anyway - I suppose group 2 would be the worst with South Korea against Italy and Portugal, otherwise Germany got off really lightly, as did the Netherlands

Spain and England had some curve balls with Ghana and Slovenia, the US and Serbia respectively, but should be expected to win, while Argentina and France were given the chance to hand a place to Nigeria (you know one of them would)

Australia didn't fare well, being drawn with Brazil just like 2006 (although they got through), but the presence of the Ivorians would be unwelcome

I don't know why I did that, just wanted to look at some permutations I guess

Beat Lawro 14 results

Aston Villa 1-1 Tottenham


Lawro: 2-1 = -1
Tarquin: 2-1 = -1

---

Blackburn 0-0 Stoke


Lawro: 1-1 = 2 
Tarquin: 0-0 = 3

---

Fulham 1-1 Bolton


Lawro: 2-0 = -1
Tarquin: 2-0 = -1

---

Manchester City 1-1 Hull

Guess they didn't end that streak of draws

Verdict: 2-0 = -1
Tarquin: 3-0 = -1

---

Portsmouth 1-4 Manchester United


Lawro: 0-2 = 1
Tarquin: 0-1 = 1

---

West Ham 5-3 Burnley


Lawro: 2-0 = 1.5
Tarquin: 1-0 = 1

---

Wigan 1-0 Sunderland


Lawro: 2-1 = 1.5
Tarquin: 2-0 = 1

---

SUNDAY
Arsenal v Chelsea


Lawro: 1-1 = -1
Tarquin: 1-1 = -1

---

Everton 0-2 Liverpool


Lawro: 1-1 = -1
Tarquin: 0-1 = 1

---

Wolves 0-1 Birmingham


Lawro: 2-1 = -1
Tarquin: 1-0= -1

----

Lawro got 4 right, no perfect scores = 0

Tarquin got 5 right, one perfect score = 2

Standings:

14 weeks played, 135 matches
9-5 to Tarquin

Lawro - 69 right, 13 perfects - 37 points
Tarquin - 71 right, 12 perfects - 41 points