MARK LAWRENSON’S PREMIER LEAGUE PREDICTIONS
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Sheffield United
Fulham 1-0 Brentford
Liverpool 2-0 Bournemouth
Wolves 1-1 Brighton
Tottenham 1-1 Manchester United
Manchester City 2-0 Newcastle
Aston Villa 2-0 Everton
West Ham 1-1 Chelsea
Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal
The Premier League is well and truly back, baby! And this weekend’s jamboree kicks off with Nottingham Forest hosting Sheffield United on Friday night. There’s no early TV Game on Saturday but we make up for it with two meaty clashes in the evening with Tottenham v Manchester United followed by the oil-derby in Manchester City v Newcastle.
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So, with the weekend hurling towards us once again there’s no time to waste and it’s only right that we bring in our resident tipster and Premier League predicting guru, Mark Lawrenson. He put Paddy to the sword last weekend and here’s Lawro’s predictions this time around.
Friday 7.45pm: Nottingham Forest v Sheffield United
Both lost on the opening day but Nottingham Forest largely stayed up last season on the back of their home form. I saw that they train on the City Ground pitch before home matches to get acclimatised to their surroundings which is quite a good tactic. Sheffield United, it’s going to be a tough season for them. You hear that they just haven’t got money to improve the team and it’s going to be a slog. I like the manager Paul Heckingbottom but I just can’t see them staying in the league. Nottingham Forest 2-1 Sheffield United.
Saturday 3pm: Fulham v Brentford
Brentford’s draw with Tottenham was a really good game and Fulham won at Everton. I fancy a Fulham win here. Both are very, very competitive teams and both should comfortably stay in the league. I just think Fulham might have too much nous at home and they get some really good results at Craven Cottage. Fulham 1-0 Brentford.
Saturday 3pm: Liverpool v Bournemouth
I think Bournemouth are signing Tyler Adams, though I don’t think that will be done in time for him to play. Liverpool are very much still in the transfer market, they’ve signed the Japan international Wataru Endo from Stuttgart, or at least I think that will get done. Liverpool are building again and that includes the ground but that’s a different story! I think they’ll beat Bournemouth though. Liverpool 2-0 Bournemouth.
Saturday 3pm: Wolves v Brighton
That Wolves non-penalty against Manchester United was absolutely ridiculous. How the referee and his assistants didn’t give it… it’s just amazing. Wolves could have beaten Manchester United by three or four goals, they were so, so impressive. I’m going to go for them to Draw this because Brighton had a good result against Luton. It’ll be a good football game this because it looks like Wolves are going to play, and play out from the back, and Brighton are exactly the same. Wolves 1-1 Brighton.
Saturday 5.30pm: Tottenham v Manchester United
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
Straight away you’re wondering where Tottenham’s goals are coming from but they got two in the draw with Bournemouth last week. I think this might be another Draw. Manchester United were very, very fortunate against Wolves and they looked very short in midfield. They struggled to have any impact on the game in there. Tottenham 1-1 Manchester United.
Saturday 8pm: Manchester City v Newcastle
TV: TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate
Newcastle had a very good result at home against Aston Villa, winning 5-1, which did flatter them a little bit because Villa collapsed. This is a big test for Newcastle because they’ve made some good signings, will be in high confidence, and this will give them a real test of what it’s like to face the big boys this season, although Kevin De Bruyne is out which will be a massive loss for City. It might be a good time to play City but I still think they’ll win. Manchester City 2-0 Newcastle.
Sunday 2pm: Aston Villa v Everton
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
Everton were hard-done by against Fulham. That ‘foul’ in their build-up to their disallowed goal was another poor decision by the officials which is crazy, especially with VAR. I don’t fancy them away from home though, Everton. Yes, Villa lost the game and Tyrone Mings to injury up at Newcastle, but I think that Pau Torres is a good player. I’ll go for a Villa home win. Aston Villa 2-0 Everton.
Sunday 4.30pm: West Ham v Chelsea
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
Both teams started with a draw and I’m going to go for another draw, I think this will be really tight. We know what David Moyes is like, especially at home against the big boys. First job is to make sure that they don’t concede. Chelsea were very good in the second half against Liverpool without really making the opportunities that you thought they should have given the amount of play they had. They’ll build on that but it’s another Draw here. West Ham 1-1 Chelsea.
Monday 8pm: Crystal Palace v Arsenal
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
I’m going to go for an away win. I love the fact that Michael Olise has signed a new contract at Crystal Palace. It’s great that because he’s looked at it and thought, ‘Yes I can go to Chelsea, yes I can get a lot more money, but am I going to get in the team?’ I like it and I think more players should do that – but it’s easy for me to say! Well done to him, but I think he’ll be disappointed on Monday because I fancy Arsenal to beat Palace. Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal.
So, you’ve heard what Lawro has to say and with the 2023/24 campaign finally underway, Paddy’s going to be dishing out free bets to shop customers who can out-shout our mighty soccer soothsayer each and every match day.
The rules are simple, beating Lawro is the tricky bit
All you have to do is predict the score of every Premier League fixture every game week. Get the score bang on and you pocket three points, get the result right and one point is added to your tally. Rack up more points than our Lawro and you’ve got free bets heading your way.
Easy, right? Well, here’s his first challenger of the 2023/24 season, Colin from Cork. Here’s Colin’s calls…
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Sheffield United
Fulham 2-1 Brentford
Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth
Wolves 0-2 Brighton
Tottenham 1-2 Manchester United
Manchester City 1-1 Newcastle
Aston Villa 2-0 Everton
West Ham 1-2 Chelsea
Crystal Palace 1-3 Arsenal
The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com now
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