Lawro's Premier League Predictions - Matchday 31

SATURDAY

West Ham v Man Utd (1245 BST)
Before the international break, West Ham had started playing much better and were looking much stronger - everyone now knows about their 4-3-3 formation and how effective it is. They do not look quite so susceptible to conceding goals either.
This is not going to be easy for Manchester United, who have got their Champions League quarter-final at Chelsea on Wednesday to think about as well as this game. Most of their players have been on international duty, and then they are chucked back together again for a couple of days ahead of a tricky away trip.
So I am going to go for a draw at Upton Park, which for West Ham would be an excellent result.
Prediction: 1-1


Birmingham v Bolton
If you think back to last season, the form which took Birmingham to a ninth-place finish was built on 1-0 wins, and they could clearly do with replicating those sort of results now. They have picked up only one point in their last five league games to slide to one off the bottom of the table.
The Blues are struggling for goals, but at least they were able to get a couple of their injured players fit during the international break, and Lee Bowyer and Nikola Zigic will both be available to face Bolton.
The Trotters might just have one eye on their FA Cup semi-final and, because of Birmingham's situation and their desperation for a win, I think they will edge this one at St Andrew's.
Prediction: 1-0


Everton v Aston Villa
There has been a lot of rubbish written about a player revolt under manager Gerard Houllier at Villa Park but I would not take too much notice of that. I would suggest that the players revolting are the ones who do not want to stay at the club anyway, regardless of who the manager is.
Villa's league position is a little precarious but Houllier has got enough match-winners in his squad for them to get out of trouble.
The problem for his Everton counterpart David Moyes is that some of his better players, like Louis Saha and Marouane Fellaini, are out for the season. This will be a big examination for the Toffees but they are at home, and they are tough to beat too.
Prediction: 1-1


Newcastle v Wolves
Wolves are without Kevin Doyle after he was injured in midweek, which is a major blow to their manager Mick McCarthy because Doyle is so important to the 4-5-1 system that he operates.
It is a real worry for them because, although Doyle probably does not score enough goals, that is partly down to the job he is doing as a lone striker. McCarthy has to decide who to go with instead, and he could play Steven Fletcher through the middle, or go with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake.
Newcastle have been very inconsistent of late and have won only one of their last 10 games. If they had not picked up so many points earlier on in the campaign, then they would be looking over their shoulders a lot more anxiously than they are doing now.
But, because the Magpies are at home, I can see them coming out on top in this one, and the difference between them and Wolves is that they only need another win or two to get out of trouble. McCarthy's men have been in much better form, but they are still in the relegation zone and in deep trouble.
Prediction: 2-1


Stoke v Chelsea
Stoke, like Bolton, will be distracted by their forthcoming FA Cup semi-final and they have to be careful that they are not sucked into a relegation dogfight because, although their home form is very good, they have been awful on the road.
I think the Potters will be fine in the end, mainly because of the number of teams below them, but I cannot see them getting anything out of this game.
This is a Chelsea team who may not be the same force they were last season but have started to regain their form and started to put together a run of clean sheets - boss Carlo Ancelotti has seen his Blues concede only three goals in their last seven games.
Apart from Yossi Benayoun, who will be back soon too, the Blues have got everybody fit and there is lots of competition for places. They are building momentum all the time.
Can Chelsea still be champions? Well, they should win at the Britannia Stadium and they do still have a chance of defending their title. Privately they will think they can do it, even if publically they might say they will not. But there is definitely hope for them, however faint, because I think they might just go unbeaten from now until the end of the season - they are more than capable of doing that.
Prediction: 1-2


West Brom v Liverpool
West Brom boss Roy Hodgson will undoubtedly feel he has a point to prove in this game following his brief spell as Liverpool manager earlier this season.
Hodgson is unbeaten in four games since taking charge of the Baggies and they have started to show a bit of belief that they have what it takes to get out of trouble. West Brom have a team shape which, when they lose the ball, makes them difficult to break down - which is definitely a trademark of his.
Liverpool deserved their win at Sunderland on 20 March, although they were a bit fortunate to get the penalty that put them ahead in that game. But a lot of their players have played an awful lot of football in the last few weeks and I am not convinced they will be able to push on here, or that finishing fourth is at all realistic for them.
Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll are starting to look decent up front, and if they can get Steven Gerrard back into the mix when he is fit then they should finish the season strongly, but the best Reds boss Kenny Dalglish and his side can hope for is fifth place.
Prediction: 1-1


Wigan v Tottenham
This is a very difficult one for Spurs manager Harry Redknapp to approach because his men have such a massive match on Tuesday to look forward to with their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. I would suspect that will mean that anyone with a slight niggle will not play at the DW Stadium on Saturday.
I have been saying all season that, with Wigan, you just never know what you are going to get. The problem the Latics have is that they might have a good spell in games but that seems to be outweighed by a bad spell when they concede far too easily.
Prediction: 1-2


Arsenal v Blackburn (1730 BST)
I am sure you would get an interesting reaction now if you asked Blackburn's owners about their decision to jettison previous boss Sam Allardyce so quickly. It is not current manager Steve Kean's fault that he is in charge, but it is his problem.
Away from home, Blackburn have been poor - they have lost their last six games - and they even struggled initially against Blackpool in their last outing at Ewood Park, when it is their home form that they have been relying on.
Arsenal do not have any distractions now, following their exit from Europe and the FA Cup, and I cannot see them having any problems in collecting the three points.
Prediction: 3-0


SUNDAY


Fulham v Blackpool (1330 BST)
Blackpool, as we know, will always create chances but also concede lots of goals. It will be very difficult for them at Craven Cottage because Fulham are so solid there.
Will Blackpool stay up? I think so. I have looked at their run-in and I think there are a couple of wins in there - they are not going to change the way they play and I think they have enough about them to survive.
Prediction: 2-1


Man City v Sunderland (1600 BST)
Sunderland have not won for two months and they are on such a bad run that I have to go for a Manchester City victory here.
City have lost two right-backs in Micah Richards and Jerome Boateng in the last few days, but that just means Pablo Zabaleta will slot back in. The important thing for manager Roberto Mancini is for his side to rediscover their consistency - they are hanging in a bit in fourth place in the Premier League, when I think they are better than that.
And if City are going to turn over Manchester United in their FA Cup semi-final, then they need to start playing a little bit better now to build their confidence up for that game.
Prediction: 2-0


Here are all of Lawro's 2010-11 Premier League predictions, together with how the League Table would look like if he was correct...

http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Mark_Lawrensons_Predictions_2010-11.html