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Hopefully you followed our new feature last week, looking at Mark Lawrenson’s predictions for the weekend’s Barclay’s Premier League action. If you did, and you are familiar with the work of Lawro, you will no be surprised to see that he had an absolutely shocking week. He correctly predicted wins for Manchester United, Leicester, Manchester City and Liverpool, but didn’t have any correct scores. It was business as usual for fans of Mark Lawrenson, that’s for sure.
On our own personal bets, we actually cashed out on one of the trebles while Spurs were 2-1, as we had a feeling Stoke were going to do something, as they had been banging at the door most of the game. So we clawed some of our outlay back.
As for Lawro himself, he ended the week -11.3 units, thanks to none of his correct scores getting up. The Leicester win helped his profit, as they were a very nice 12/5 to win last weekend.
Can Lawro turn things around this week and get himself back into profit? Can he at least cop a correct score, or maybe get some winners that aren’t the obvious selections? Let’s have a look at Mark Lawrenson’s predictions for this week’s Barclay’s Premier League matches.
We also have our own computer betting system which gathers data from all previous games, runs a zillion simulations and then outputs the result. The system is in its infancy – especially with only two weeks of data but we’ll provide what it predicts as well.
Manchester United vs Newcastle
Dare to guess what Lawro’s selection for this one is? Of course he’s gone for the Manchester United win! He’s liking 2-1 to the Red Devils, and why not? Personally, I haven’t been impressed with Manchester United so far. It will take time for them to gel, sure, but they’re just lacking something. They have enough to get past Newcastle, who haven’t been great and are also needing to gel, which is the main thing, and why we have faith in Lawro. Manchester United are a 2/5 shot and the correct score of 2-1 will pay 8-1.
SportsBettingTips.org System: Man Utd 2-0 Newcastle. 6/1
Crystal Palace vs Aston Villa
Lawro is going for a 2-0 win for Crystal Palace here. Palace are best price 10/11 to win, and the correct score price is 8/1. There is a lot of love for Alan Pardew’s men, but nobody is giving Aston Villa any credit. Their game plan against Manchester United almost paid off, and they got a gritty win away to Bournemouth. That being said, Palace are looking handy, and they almost got a result against Arsenal at home, so form would dictate that they should beat Villa at home. But do Villa have goals in them? That’s the big question.
SportsBettingTips.org System: Crystal Palace 0-1 Aston Villa. 11/1
Leicester vs Tottenham
Leicester were the big winners for Mark Lawrenson last week, but is he keeping the faith and backing the form team to beat an average-looking Spurs side? No. He’s going for a 1-1 draw. The draw is 9/4 and 1-1 is 6/1. I’m disappointed that Lawro isn’t continuing to ride the Leicester train, because they’re an exciting side right now. He’s a bit of a traitor, to be brutally honest, and for that, we hope Leicester thump Spurs.
SportsBettingTips.org System: Leicester 2-1 Tottenham. 10/1
Norwich vs Stoke
In what I’ve dubbed ‘the weekend’s most boring sounding fixture’, Mr Lawrenson will be taking Norwich to win 2-1. 7/5 for a Norwich win and 9/1 for the correct score. I have very little to say about this, it screams dull to me. Of course, it’ll finish 4-4 now and we’ll have a couple of contenders for Goal of the Season. It’s one of those games that either side could win, or it could fizzle out and be a dull 0-0. Oh, and both sides are usually painful to watch, so there is that, too.
SportsBettingTips.org System: Norwich 2-2 Stoke. 16/1
Sunderland vs Swansea
In a week where Sunderland were installed as favourites to get relegated by their own sponsors, Lawro is thinking things will start to improve for the Black Cats. He’s going for a 1-1 draw here, and I have to say I disagree. Sunderland have been shocking in their first two games, while Swansea have looked mightily impressive, drawing with Chelsea and outclassing Newcastle. Yes, it’s a long way to Sunderland, but you know what, Swansea and their new signings are a class above, so Lawro’s selection here is a weird one. The draw is 9/4 and 1-1 is the bookies’ favourite at 6/1.
SportsBettingTips.org System: Sunderland 1-3 Swansea. 20/1
West Ham vs Bournemouth
I was just speaking to a friend that thinks West Ham could be a team that performs better away from home, but Lawro doesn’t share that sentiment. He thinks West Ham are going to win 2-1 here. In a match that’s a coin flip, really, it’s not a bad choice. It’s 9/1 for a 2-1 West Ham win, while West Ham are 7/5 just to win the match. Maybe Lawro’s sniffed out the value of the weekend!
SportsBettingTips.org System: West Ham 1-0 Bournemouth. 8/1
West Brom vs Chelsea
A controversial choice here for Lawro – he’s going for a 1-1 draw. I have no words, considering how woeful WBA have looked already this season. 5/1 for the draw is big, and 1-1 is only marginally bigger at 7/1. If Mark Lawrenson gets this one right, alarm bells might start ringing for Jose and his boys. In fact, if he gets it right, we’ll have alarm bells ringing too, more for the shock than anything else.
SportsBettingTips.org System: West Brom 1-1 Chelsea. 7/1
Everton vs Manchester City
No surprises here as Lawro is predicting a Manchester City win at around 8/11. He thinks City will win 2-0, and who are we to question that? The price for this bold correct score prediction? 9/1.
SportsBettingTips.org System: Everton 1-2 Man City. 8/1
Watford vs Southampton
This is quite an interesting game, as you have Southampton coming off the back of a European game on Thursday, while Watford have looked relatively handy at times in their first two games, and have shown real guts. Lawro isn’t having any of that, though, and predicts a 2-1 win for the Saints. The correct score will pay a very tasty 10-1, and Southampton are around 7/4 to win. I think Watford might be able to cause an upset here, but then I’m not the BBC pundit, so maybe I’m overrating their first two results. We’ll know come Sunday night, won’t we?
SportsBettingTips.org System: Watford 2-1 Southampton. 10/1
Arsenal vs Liverpool
Another Monday, another Liverpool game. Lawro’s hatred for the Gunner continues, as he’s predicting a 1-1 draw. The draw is 3/1, while the correct score prediction pays out 7/1. I really don’t understand why Mark Lawrsenson seems to be underrating Arsenal this season. He thought they’d get dished by Crystal Palace, which was a bold prediction, and drawing at home against a Liverpool side that were lucky against Bournemouth sums up just what he thinks of the Londoners.
SportsBettingTips.org System: Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool. 28/1. Also just as strongly Arsenal 0-1 Liverpool 14/1. It couldn’t decide.
So, like last week, Lawro will be hoping to get a correct score under his belt to try and turn that loss into a profit. Can he? Well, if you’re a regular follower of Mark Lawrenson’s predictions, you probably won’t be holding your breath. But at Sports Betting Tips, we’ve got faith in the big man. For now. The audit continues.
