Premier League predictions: Lawro v John Bishop

BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson is pitting his wits against a different guest each week this season.

This week he takes on comedian and Liverpool fan John Bishop.
Bishop is a lifelong Red and a keen footballer who regularly takes part in charity games, but he is not the most talented player in his family - his brother Eddie played professionally for Tranmere, Chester and Crewe.

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Football Focus: Comedian John Bishop's Premier League predictions

Not surprisingly, Bishop goes for a Liverpool win at Tottenham on Sunday, and he says his hopes for the season have changed following their bright start to the season under boss Brendan Rodgers.
"Liverpool are playing some of the best football I have seen for a number of years," Bishop said. "I was a big Kenny Dalglish fan and when Brendan came in it took everyone a little bit of time to see the pattern of play he wanted.
"But now what we're seeing is really his team. These are his players and it is great to watch.
"At the start of the season, a top four finish would have been great. Now, we are really looking at making the top four and also to pick up a trophy somewhere along the way."
You can see all of Bishop's predictions on Football Focus at 12:00 GMT on Saturday, on BBC One and the BBC Sport website.

Predictions	Score	Lawro	John
SATURDAY
Man City v Arsenal	6-3	2-1	1-1
Cardiff v West Brom	1-0	1-1	1-2
Chelsea v Crystal Palace	2-1	2-0	3-0
Everton v Fulham	4-1	2-0	2-0
Newcastle v Southampton	1-1	1-2	1-0
West Ham v Sunderland	0-0	2-0	1-0
Hull City v Stoke City	0-0	1-1	2-2
SUNDAY
Aston Villa v Man Utd	x-x	0-2	0-1
Norwich v Swansea	x-x	2-0	0-0
Tottenham v Liverpool	x-x	2-0	1-2

A correct result is worth ONE point. A correct score earns THREE points.
For the midweek Premier League programme, Lawro got five results right, with two perfect scores. His score of nine gave him victory over Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr, who got two correct results, with no exact scores.
We're keeping a record of the total scores for Lawro and his guests (below), and showing a table of how the Premier League would look if all of Lawro's predictions were correct (also at the bottom of the page).

Total scores after Week 15
Lawro	120
Guests	87

LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS

SATURDAY

All kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless otherwise stated.

Man City 6-3 Arsenal

Lawro's prediction: 2-1
John's prediction: 1-1.
Match report

Cardiff 1-0 West Brom

Lawro's prediction: 1-1
John's prediction: 1-2
Match report

Chelsea 2-1 Crystal Palace

Lawro's prediction: 2-0
John's prediction: 3-0
Match report

Everton 4-1 Fulham

Lawro's prediction: 2-0
John's prediction: 2-0
Match report

Newcastle 1-1 Southampton

Lawro's prediction: 1-2
John's prediction: 1-0
Match report

West Ham 0-0 Sunderland

Lawro's prediction: 2-0
John's prediction: 1-0
Match report

Hull City 0-0 Stoke City

Lawro's prediction: 1-1
John's prediction: 2-2
Match report

SUNDAY

Aston Villa v Man Utd (13:30 GMT)

After losing two games in a row at Old Trafford in the Premier League, Manchester United were under a lot of pressure when they played Shakhtar Donetsk at home in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Phil Jones celebrates after scoring Manchester United's winner against Shakhtar Donetsk

United could have caved in, but that did not happen.
They won to go through to the last 16 as group winners and their record in Europe this season has been very good - they won four and drew two of their six games, and not too many teams have better records.
Now they need to show some of that form in the Premier League, and I think they will get a win they badly need on Sunday. Villa were great against Southampton but poor against Fulham and they are another team that are too inconsistent.
I think we will see steady improvement from United over the next few weeks but that does not change the fact they need to buy some new players.
But needing players in January and being able to get the players you ones you want are completely different things - it is a very difficult transfer window to buy players in, especially if the selling club does not want to sell.
Lawro's prediction: 0-2
John's prediction: In the past this would have been an obvious Manchester United win. This time, it will be a lot closer but I would still go for United to win 1-0.
Match preview

Norwich v Swansea (13:30 GMT)

Norwich picked up a great win against West Brom last week - every time Canaries boss Chris Hughton seems to be on the brink, he gets the result he needs.
Norwich need to stick with him anyway, because I think they will be safe eventually, I really do. They are not one of the three worst teams in the division.
Swansea have found it difficult to balance their Europa League ambitions with their Premier League campaign and it has been a real balancing act for them with their squad.
Last season Norwich went on a run for a couple of months before Christmas that took them out of trouble and I can actually see them kicking on again this time too.
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
John's prediction: 0-0
Match preview

Tottenham v Liverpool (16:00 GMT)

Liverpool are without Steven Gerrard for the festive period because of injury, which is a massive blow for them.
This next month will give them an indication of how difficult it is going to be to replace him when his playing days are over.

Gerrard picked up a hamstring injury against West Ham last week and is out for at least a month

The Reds are without Daniel Sturridge too, so it is just as well that Luis Suarez is in such dazzling form at the moment. He has been nothing short of sensational lately.
But I just think Tottenham have turned the corner. There was a massive over-reaction to their 6-0 defeat at Manchester City and, if you look at their performances and results since then, they have come good.
Spurs have had two good wins on the road at Fulham and Sunderland and I can see them making it three in a row with a win at White Hart Lane.
Liverpool have been very good at despatching teams at home but they have been inconsistent and dropped points away from Anfield. For me, you cannot under-estimate the impact that the loss Gerrard will have on them.
Lawro's prediction: 2-0
John's prediction: This is big test for Liverpool. I have got to go where my heart is and I have got to say Liverpool will win 2-1.
Match preview

Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.

Lawro v Guests
P15	W8	D2	L5

SCORE	GUEST LEADERBOARD
12	Nicky Wire
11	Susanna Reid
10	Usain Bolt
9	Charlotte Green
7.92	Lawro (average after 14 weeks)
6	Kevin Clifton, Gaz Coombes, Alistair McGowan Joe Montana, Greg James
5	Sam Tomkins, The National
4	Jason Sudeikis
2	Cal Crutchlow, Jim Kerr, David Schneider
1	Michael Palin

Lawro's best score: 13 points (week seven v David Schneider)
Lawro's worst score: 4 points (week two v Sam Tomkins)

ARROWS DENOTE DIFFERENCE TO REAL TABLE
POS	TEAM	P	W	D	L	PTS	DIFF	+/-
1.	Man City	15	12	3	0	39		+3
2.	Arsenal	15	10	5	0	35		-1
3.	Chelsea	15	10	4	1	34		-1
4.	Liverpool	15	9	6	0	33		-2
5.	Man Utd	15	9	6	0	33		+4
6.	Tottenham	15	9	3	3	30		0
7.	Everton	15	6	4	5	22		-2
8.	Fulham	15	6	4	5	22		+10
9.	Newcastle	15	5	4	6	19		-2
10.	Southampton	15	6	1	8	19		-2
11.	Stoke	15	6	1	8	19		+2
12.	Norwich	15	5	3	7	18		+2
13.	Swansea	15	4	5	6	17		-3
14.	West Brom	15	4	4	7	16		+1
15.	West Ham	15	3	5	7	14		+2
16.	Aston Villa	15	2	7	6	13		-5
17.	Hull City	15	2	5	8	11		-5
18.	Crystal Palace	15	3	1	11	10		+1
19.	Sunderland	15	0	5	10	5		+1
20.	Cardiff	15	0	3	12	3		-4