Category: Predictions

We have now predicted the results of 258 matches. In Week 26, Rich scored 6 points, Geoff 6 points, and Lawro 9 points. Lawro has extended his lead at the top of the leaderboard, but, as we approach the business end of the season there is all to play for. Although Rich has predicted more correct results than Lawro, the ex-Liverpool pundit has had better fortune with his correct prediction of actual scores. This could be an important week in our challenge as the results forecast by Rich and Lawro differ in half of the games, and in only one match the same score has been predicted. Can Lawro increase his lead still further, making it difficult for him to be caught, or can Rich keep the contest alive? It seems unlikely that Geoff can make up the ground to challenge, but no doubt he will continue to play for pride and hope for a comeback of Lazarus proportions.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 27.

		Rich	Geoff	Lawro
	Total after 25 weeks	202	155	203
	Score in week 26	6	6	9
	Total after 26 weeks	208	161	212
	Predictions – Week 27
		Rich	Geoff	Lawro
	Saturday
	Man U v Bournemouth	3-0	2-1	2-0
	Leicester v Hull	1-1	3-0	2-0
	Stoke v Middlesbrough	1-0	2-0	2-0
	Swansea v Burnley	2-1	1-1	1-1
	Watford v Southampton	1-1	1-2	2-1
	West Brom v Palace	2-1	2-1	1-1
	Liverpool v Arsenal	1-1	2-2	2-1
	Sunday
	Tottenham v Everton	2-0	2-1	2-0
	Sunderland v Man City	0-3	1-3	0-2
	Monday
	West Ham v Chelsea	2-1	1-1	0-2

Twenty-five rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the results of 250 matches.

In Week 25, Rich scored 10 points, Geoff 6 points, and Lawro 12 points. Lawro has narrowly regained his place at the top of the leaderboard, but, as we approach the business end of the season there is all to play for.

The EFL Cup Final takes place this weekend so the games involving Manchester United and Southampton have been postponed, leaving just eight matches for us to predict.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 26.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 24 weeks	192	149	191
Score in week 25	10	6	12
Total after 25 weeks	202	155	203
Predictions – Week 26
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Saturday
Chelsea v Swansea	2-0	2-1	3-0
Palace v Middlesbrough	1-1	1-0	2-0
Everton v Sunderland	2-0	3-1	1-1
Hull v Burnley	2-1	1-0	1-1
West Brom v Bournemouth	2-0	1-1	2-1
Watford v West Ham	2-4	1-3	2-0
Sunday
Tottenham v Stoke	2-1	3-0	2-0
Monday
Leicester v Liverpool	1-2	1-2	0-2

Twenty-four rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the results of 240 matches.

In Week 24, Rich scored 7 points, Geoff 6 points, and Lawro 5 points. Rich has narrowly regained his place at the top of the leaderboard, but the competition is well and truly on.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 25.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 23 weeks	185	143	186
Score in week 24	7	6	5
Total after 24 weeks	192	149	191
Predictions – Week 25
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Saturday
Arsenal v Hull	2-0	3-1	2-0
Man U v Watford	2-0	1-0	2-0
Middlesbrough v Everton	1-1	1-0	1-1
Stoke v Palace	2-0	0-0	2-1
Sunderland v Southampton	1-1	2-1	1-0
West Ham v West Brom	2-1	3-0	1-1
Liverpool v Tottenham	1-1	1-2	1-1
Sunday
Burnley v Chelsea	1-2	1-1	0-2
Swansea v Leicester	2-1	1-2	1-1
Monday
Bournemouth v Man City	1-2	0-3	0-2

The whole concept behind this challenge was to prove the assertion of how hopeless Lawro was at predicting the outcome of Premier League matches.  He may be able to come out on top against an assortment of minor celebrities but that was never going to be the case against a couple of seasoned and insightful football enthusiasts.  Well now the unthinkable has happened and Lawro has taken a narrow lead in our season long head-to-head challenge.

Twenty-three rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the results of 230 matches. In Week 23, Rich scored 5 points, Geoff 3 points, and Lawro 8 points. Lawro has hit the top of the league and holds a one point lead, with 150 matches still to forecast before the end of the season. Can he hang on at the top?

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 24.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 22 weeks	180	140	178
Score in week 23	5	3	8
Total after 23 weeks	185	143	186
Predictions – Week 24
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Saturday
Chelsea v Arsenal	2-1	1-2	2-0
Palace v Sunderland	2-1	1-1	2-1
Everton v Bournemouth	2-0	3-1	2-0
Hull v Liverpool	1-1	0-2	0-2
Southampton v West Ham	1-1	0-1	2-1
Watford v Burnley	2-1	2-0	1-1
West Brom v Stoke	1-1	2-2	2-1
Tottenham v Middlesbrough	2-0	3-0	2-0
Sunday
Man City v Swansea	3-1	5-0	3-0
Leicester v Man United	1-1	0-2	1-1

Twenty-two rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the outcomes of 220 matches in total.

In Week 22, Rich scored 7 points, Geoff 6 points, and Lawro 11 points. Lawro has worryingly narrowed the lead at the top to just two points.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 23.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 21 weeks	173	134	167
Score in week 22	7	6	11
Total after 22 weeks	180	140	178
Predictions – Week 23
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Tuesday
Arsenal v Watford	3-0	2-0	3-0
Bournemouth v Palace	2-1	2-2	1-1
Burnley v Leicester	1-1	1-0	1-2
Middlesbrough v West Brom	0-0	1-0	1-2
Sunderland v Tottenham	0-2	1-2	1-0
Swansea v Southampton	2-1	0-0	2-0
Liverpool v Chelsea	2-2	2-1	1-1
Wednesday
West Ham v Man City	2-2	3-2	0-2
Man Utd v Hull	3-0	4-1	2-0
Stoke v Everton	2-1	1-2	1-1

Twenty-one rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the results of 210 matches. In Week 21, Rich scored 6 points, Geoff 9 points, and Lawro 6 points.

It is still relatively close at the top with Rich maintaining his six point advantage over Lawro, with Geoff 39 points off the lead. But if you break it down into small chunks, then if Geoff can win by three points each week (as he did with last week’s predictions), then with 17 weeks to go, and over 500 points that can be won, he can still finish on top. What are the chances?

It is interesting to note that Lawro makes his predictions on the BBC Sport website, and goes up against a guest personality each week. The guest personalities can be anyone from sportsmen / sportswomen, actors, comedians, musicians, politicians etc., but never anyone from the football world, either past or present. In the 21 weeks that have elapsed to date, he has been beaten seven times by his guests, some of whom profess to know little about football, or the Premier League. So one in three guests beat him, although he is no doubt paid to be an “expert pundit”. Obviously there is an element of luck in predicting the correct scores, but less so in predicting the correct results.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 22.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 20 weeks	167	125	161
Score in week 21	6	9	6
Total after 21 weeks	173	134	167
Predictions – Week 22
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Saturday
Liverpool v Swansea	3-0	4-0	3-0
Bournemouth v Watford	3-1	2-0	2-1
Palace v Everton	1-1	2-2	1-1
Middlesbrough v West Ham	1-2	0-1	1-1
Stoke v Man Utd	1-2	1-1	1-1
West Brom v Sunderland	2-0	3-1	2-0
Man City v Tottenham	1-2	2-3	2-2
Sunday
Southampton v Leicester	2-1	0-1	1-1
Arsenal v Burnley	3-0	3-0	2-0
Chelsea v Hull	3-0	5-1	3-0

Nineteen rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the results of 190 matches. We have now reached the halfway stage in the Premier League season.

Normal service was resumed In Week 19 where Rich scored a commendable 10 points, Geoff an underwhelming 4 points, and Lawro also weighed in with 10 points of his own . In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now move on to week 20 and the return set of fixtures between clubs.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 18 weeks	152	116	143
Score in week 19	10	4	10
Total after 19 weeks	162	120	153
Predictions – Week 20
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Monday
Middlesbrough v Leicester	1-0	1-1	0-2
Everton v Southampton	2-1	2-0	2-0
Man City v Burnley	3-0	3-1	3-0
Sunderland v Liverpool	0-3	1-3	0-2
WBA v Hull	2-0	3-0	2-0
West Ham v Man Utd	2-1	2-2	1-2
Tuesday
Bournemouth v Arsenal	2-2	1-2	0-2
Palace v Swansea	2-0	1-0	2-0
Stoke v Watford	3-1	3-0	2-0
Wednesday
Tottenham v Chelsea	2-2	1-1	2-1

Eighteen rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the results of 180 matches. In Week 18, Rich scored 8 points, Geoff 12 points, and Lawro 12 points. Perhaps Rich is getting complacent in the lead as the others are closing the gap.

Proving that if, like every politician or CEO, you carefully select your statistic and starting point Geoff forecast that on the strength of the last 3 weeks he was firmly on track for a comfortable lead by the time the daffodils were out.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now march on to week 19. After this week we will have reached the halfway point of the season.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 17 weeks	144	104	131
Score in week 18	8	12	12
Total after 18 weeks	152	116	143
Predictions – Week 19
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Friday
Hull v Everton	1-1	1-2	1-1
Saturday
Burnley v Sunderland	1-0	1-1	1-2
Chelsea v Stoke	2-0	2-1	3-0
Leicester v West Ham	2-2	1-2	1-1
Man U v Middlesbrough	2-0	2-0	2-0
Southampton v WBA	1-1	1-0	1-2
Swansea v Bournemouth	1-2	1-1	2-1
Liverpool v Man City	2-1	1-2	1-1
Sunday
Watford v Tottenham	1-2	1-3	0-2
Arsenal v Palace	2-0	2-1	2-0

Seventeen rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now attempted to predict the results of 170 matches so far.

In Week 17, Rich scored 6 points, Geoff 10 points, and Lawro 7 points. With a win for Geoff for the second week running is there an unlikely comeback on the cards .

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

Full of festive spirit we now march on to week 18.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 16 weeks	138	94	124
Score in week 17	6	10	7
Total after 17 weeks	144	104	131
Predictions – Week 18
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Monday
Watford v Palace	2-1	1-2	1-1
Arsenal v WBA	1-0	3-1	2-0
Burnley v Middlesbrough	2-1	1-0	1-1
Chelsea v Bournemouth	2-0	3-0	2-0
Leicester v Everton	1-1	2-0	2-1
Man U v Sunderland	4-1	2-0	3-0
Swansea v West Ham	1-1	1-2	0-2
Hull v Man City	0-2	1-4	0-3
Tuesday
Liverpool v Stoke	2-0	3-1	3-0
Wednesday
Southampton v Tottenham	1-1	0-1	0-2

Sixteen rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the results of 160 matches. In Week 16, Rich scored 8 points, Geoff 13 points, and Lawro 10 points. This was Geoff’s best performance of the season so far, and could be the beginning of a rise to challenge for the lead. Or it could be just a one-off. Rich got 8 results correct but he could not get any correct scores. Lawro got six correct results, two of which were also the correct score. Geoff got seven correct results, three of which were also the correct score. In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now march on to week 17. Just two weeks after this one to the halfway stage.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 15 weeks	130	81	114
Score in week 16	8	13	10
Total after 16 weeks	138	94	124
Predictions – Week 17
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
SATURDAY
Palace v Chelsea	0-2	0-2	1-1
Middlesbrough v Swansea	2-1	1-1	2-0
Stoke v Leicester	2-1	2-2	1-2
Sunderland v Watford	3-2	2-1	2-1
West Ham v Hull	3-1	2-0	2-0
West Brom v Man United	1-1	1-1	0-2
SUNDAY
Bournemouth v Southampton	2-1	2-2	2-0
Man City v Arsenal	2-2	2-1	1-1
Tottenham v Burnley	3-0	4-0	2-0
MONDAY
Everton v Liverpool	1-2	2-1	1-1