Premier League predictions

Lawro's predictions Aston Villa 2-1 Fulham Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool Everton 2-0 Blackpool Man City 2-0 West Brom Newcastle 0-2 Arsenal Stoke 2-0 Sunderland Tottenham 2-0 Bolton Wigan 1-1 Blackburn Wolves 0-2 Man Utd West Ham 2-1 Birmingham A correct result is worth ONE point, a correct score earns THREE points. There is no celebrity guest for Lawro to pit his wits against this week. Last weekend he got four results correct but no exact scores as the Premier League went goal crazy, and his four points meant he drew 4-4 with Eastenders actor Jake Wood Man Utd v Man City This is a huge game for United and not only because it is the derby. After losing their Premier League unbeaten record for the season against Wolves last week, it is important that they get back on the horse. What is worrying for United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, however, is the lack of chances they created in the second half at Molineux. City saw off West Brom easily enough and it looks like their little run of poor form might be over. I can see this one ending in a low-scoring draw and I think City manager Roberto Mancini would be absolutely delighted with that result, as he was with a point at Arsenal. He lined up ultra-defensively in that game at the Emirates in January, as he did against United at Eastlands in November. It might be stating the obvious but Mancini is Italian, and when he goes into the really big matches he has an Italian mentality where he thinks 'the only thing we can't do is lose'. He aims to have a solid base all the time in midfield and at the back and, if he needs to chase the game in the last 20 minutes he will make some substitutions, unlike Sir Alex, who will just go for it anyway. That is the difference between the two managers Arsenal v Wolves It would be unlike Wolves to be beaten by one of the top four teams, because all their best results this season have come against the high flyers in the Premier League - they have beaten five of the top seven already. But the big problem for Mick McCarthy's men going to the Emirates will be scoring goals, because to do that you have to open up a bit. I can't see them doing that, and I think they will go 4-5-1 and make things as difficult as possible by being as physical as they can. A lot of Arsenal's players will have been away on international duty this week but the ones who weren't will have been hanging their heads in shame after that incredible second-half collapse in Saturday's 4-4 draw with Newcastle. I think we will see a strong response from the Gunners in this game Birmingham v Stoke Birmingham's win at West Ham last weekend was a massive one for them, but Stoke had a cracking result too. Credit to the Potters, they just kept coming back in what was such an odd game, because I felt Sunderland were in control but really gave it away to lose in the last 20 minutes. Neither of these sides is particularly prolific and both have, unusually for them, started to concede goals of late. That points to a draw for me, and I don't think it is going to be a Newcastle-Arsenal style classic, put it that way Blackburn v Newcastle Newcastle have brought Shefki Kuqi to fill a gap up front until the end of the season after selling Andy Carroll and then losing Shola Ameobi to injury. It is not exactly a signing to excite the fans but he is another body and he is big and strong, meaning Magpies manager Alan Pardew can mix things up a bit up front. Blackburn played some exciting football in their 4-3 defeat by Wigan last week but they were very open, which will have concerned Rovers boss Steve Kean a little bit - I can imagine they will have worked on that all week. They will no doubt try the direct approach at Ewood Park but I think Newcastle might surprise a few people here and come away with the points Blackpool v Aston Villa Everybody in the Premier League knows how Blackpool play now and anyone who watches them home and away gets value for money because they have a real go at teams. They will create chances and score goals against anyone but I think the problem for Seasiders boss Ian Holloway is that the opposition are getting even more openings against his side now. Villa can leave Darren Bent on his own up front and keep things tight, then break forward so quickly with the pace they have in the likes of Marc Albrighton, Stewart Downing and Ashley Young. Bent and Young both scored for England in midweek against Denmark too. Just playing for your national team and doing well is enough to make your confidence soar and if you score it is even better. Bent seems to be in a bit of a purple patch - you can see him getting two or three chances at Bloomfield Road Liverpool v Wigan Wigan won one of the games of the week last Saturday when they edged out Blackburn but the other Premier League scores that day meant they did not really get the credit they deserved. For Liverpool to win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday was an outstanding result and performance. Their manager Kenny Dalglish has now used virtually all of his squad so all his players have had a chance to show what they can do, and by doing that he has increased competition. Dalglish is keeping everybody guessing by playing with three centre-backs on occasion, so nobody is really sure who is going to start. Confidence is sky-high at Anfield and this might be the right game for Luis Suarez to make his full debut Sunderland v Tottenham I thought Sunderland were cruising against Stoke when they threw it away and they are in for a really tough game here. Tottenham seem to have got over their bad run now and have shown their determination by winning their last two matches, against Blackpool and Bolton, when they had to ride their luck a bit in both. Tottenham have defensive issues but they have players with the ability to win games right through their squad and showed it again when Niko Kranjcar came off the bench to score a belting winner against Bolton on Saturday. I'm going to go for them to get three points again here, and I think they are about to go on another really good run

Actual results Aston Villa 2-2 Fulham Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool Everton 5-3 Blackpool Man City 3-0 West Brom Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal Stoke 3-2 Sunderland Tottenham 2-1 Bolton Wigan 4-3 Blackburn Wolves 2-1 Man Utd West Ham 0-1 Birmingham