Liverpool were knocked off the top of the Premier League by Manchester City's win at Everton on Wednesday, but is the Reds' recent dip in form down to them feeling the pressure in the title race?
BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson says: "Much has been said about how Liverpool have lost their heads and all those kind of things - but they haven't lost it, they are just having a spell where they are not playing particularly well.
"City have had the same, and nobody said they were bottling it when they lost games, did they?
"There are so many Liverpool fans panicking about the way the team is playing when I just think the more sensible supporters are thinking 'hold on a minute, win our game in hand and we are three points clear'.
"I think Saturday's game against Bournemouth might help to calm everyone down, with a 'back to business' type of performance and result."
City returned to the top of the Premier League for the first time since 16 December when they beat Everton on WednesdayLawro is making predictions for all 380 top-flight matches this season, against a variety of guests.
This week he is up against actor Jamie Dornan and photo-journalist Paul Conroy, who have worked together on new film 'A Private War', the story of acclaimed war correspondent Marie Colvin.
Dornan plays Conroy, who was Colvin's long-term colleague and was with her on her last assignment when she was killed by an airstrike in Syria in 2012. Conroy was badly injured in the same blast but survived.
Dornan (right) is a United fan but says: "It is hard not to appreciate Liverpool's brilliant football and the freedom with which they are playing - and it is very hard not to like Jurgen Klopp".Dornan and Conroy became close friends while the film was being made, but as Conroy told BBC Sport: "Paul and I get on very well, until it comes to football."
Dornan, who grew up in Belfast, said: "There are a huge amount of Liverpool and Manchester United fans all over Ireland but it is United for me, mainly down to George Best - our airport in Belfast is named after him - and through my dad."
Liverpool fan Conroy said: "When I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s, our house backed on to Anfield. We would go down to the entrance, Bill Shankly would be coming out and we would yell, 'All right, Bill' at him - and he would yell something unprintable back.
"Kevin Keegan used to have a TR7 car and we used to go, 'Can we mind your car, Kev?' with a little bit of extortion and menace, and he would kind of go, 'All right, lads' and hand over the money.
"They were very different times. Shankly used to walk down the road with his wife and get on the bus after the match."
"You don't get that now," added Dornan. "But I think Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is probably cool enough to get the bus home."
Premier League predictions - week 26
Result
Lawro
Paul & Jamie
SATURDAY
Fulham v Man Utd
x-x
0-2
1-4
Crystal Palace v West Ham
x-x
1-1
2-1
Huddersfield v Arsenal
x-x
0-2
0-2
Liverpool v Bournemouth
x-x
3-0
3-1
Southampton v Cardiff
x-x
2-1
0-1
Watford v Everton
x-x
2-0
1-3
Brighton v Burnley
x-x
0-1
1-1
SUNDAY
Tottenham v Leicester
x-x
2-1
2-2
Man City v Chelsea
x-x
2-1
3-1
MONDAY
Wolves v Newcastle
x-x
2-1
0-0
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS
All kick-offs 15:00 GMT unless stated.
SATURDAY
Fulham v Man Utd (12:30 GMT)
Manchester United are flying at the moment and it surely is only a matter of time before Solskjaer gets the manager's job permanently.
I can only see one outcome here - another United win, which would be his 10th victory in 11 games as interim boss.
That is a brilliant run, but I don't agree with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola that United are back in the title race. They are not in the running for that at all.
Crystal Palace v West Ham
West Ham did very well against Liverpool on Monday night - they got a point, but could have won it.
Huddersfield v Arsenal
Huddersfield played some nice football in their defeat by Chelsea last week, but they looked very open.
You can see why their former manager David Wagner was far more cautious and played the way he did, because he thought that was their only chance of nicking the odd result.
There is no great pressure on Jan Siewert whatever happens here, because this game is more about the story at Arsenal, and what is happening to them.
Liverpool v Bournemouth
Liverpool's biggest problem at the moment is that they are a bit thin on the ground, numbers-wise, especially at the back.
It wouldn't be too bad if they had only lost one defender, one midfielder and one attacker, but they are all in the same sort of department.
Even Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum, who are both injury doubts for this game, are more defensive-minded midfielders, rather than attacking.
So Jurgen Klopp has lost that shield a little bit and even Virgil van Dijk has started to look a little bit ordinary because there are so many different people around him.
Southampton v Cardiff
Cardiff's form on the road has not been great this season - they have only one win and two draws to show for 12 games, and only Fulham have picked up fewer points.
Southampton's home form is not exactly impressive either, with only two wins from 12 games at St Mary's, but both of them have come since Ralph Hasenhuttl took charge at the start of December.
I know they are still hovering just above the relegation zone but Saints are still unbeaten in the league in 2019 and I think Hasenhuttl deserves more credit for changing the mood at St Mary's, as well as his results.
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Jamie and Paul's prediction: 0-1
Watford v Everton
This is easily the biggest game of the season for Everton boss Marco Silva, who goes back to his former club on the back of a run of four defeats from his past five games.
Brighton v Burnley (17:30 GMT)
Brighton are into the last 16 of the FA Cup after beating West Brom on Wednesday night, but they are on a poor run in the league.
Tottenham v Leicester (13:30 GMT)
Leicester created enough chances to get something out of their game with Manchester United, but the point they got against Liverpool last week is the only thing they have to show from their past five games in all competitions.
In contrast, Tottenham just keep on finding a way to win games despite obviously still being without some of their key players.
When you look into why or how they have done it, it all leads back to Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino. I think he will collect another three points here.
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Jamie and Paul's prediction: 2-2
Man City v Chelsea (16:00 GMT)
City have had a big week with games against Arsenal and Everton, but they were able to start with Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling on the bench against the Toffees, so at least those two will be fairly fresh.
Chelsea have had the week off after thumping Huddersfield last weekend but I don't think that win over the Terriers changes the fact that all is not well with Maurizio Sarri's team.
They will still pose a threat to City's title bid, though.
Wolves v Newcastle (20:00 GMT)
Newcastle's new signing Miguel Almiron should make his debut and I am looking forward to seeing how he gets on.
I have seen lots of footage of him and he looks like a player but it will be an interesting night for him because the Premier League is very different to the MLS, and Wolves are a team in form.
Of all the teams chasing seventh place, Nuno Espirito Santo's team are definitely the most consistent in terms of performances, and I can see them getting a fourth-straight win on Monday.
Lawro's prediction: 2-1
Jamie and Paul's prediction: 0-0
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?
Not very well. He equalled his lowest score of the season, 20 points, after getting two correct results and no perfect scores from last weekend's 10 Premier League games.
He lost to Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarter-back Ryan Fitzpatrick, with Sanu scoring 50 points (five correct results, no perfect scores) and Fitzpatrick scoring 30 points (three correct results, no perfect scores).
However, Lawro did much better with Manchester City's win over Everton in their rearranged game on Wednesday, and scored 40 points for correctly predicting the champions would win 2-0.
Total scores after week 25
Lawro
2,070
Guests
1,860
Lawro v Guests
P25
W11
D3
L11
+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION
TEAM
P
W
D
L
PTS
+/-
1
Man City
26
23
3
0
72
0
2
Man Utd
25
20
3
2
63
+3
3
Liverpool
25
16
9
0
57
-1
=4
Chelsea
25
16
4
5
52
0
=4
Tottenham
25
15
8
2
52
-1
6
Everton
26
13
2
11
41
+3
7
Leicester
25
12
4
9
40
+4
8
Arsenal
25
12
3
10
39
-2
=9
Burnley
25
9
6
10
33
+8
=9
Newcastle
25
9
6
10
33
+6
=11
Bournemouth
25
8
5
12
29
-1
=11
Fulham
25
8
5
12
29
+8
=13
Watford
25
8
3
14
27
-5
=13
Wolves
25
8
3
14
27
-6
=15
West Ham
25
7
3
15
24
-3
=15
Crystal Palace
25
6
6
13
24
-1
17
Southampton
25
6
3
16
21
-1
18
Brighton
25
3
7
15
16
-5
19
Cardiff
25
3
5
17
14
-1
20
Huddersfield
25
3
4
18
13
0
GUEST LEADERBOARD 218-19
SCORE
GUEST LEADERBOARD
160
David Ginola
140
The 1975's Ross MacDonald
120
Joe Thomas
110
Yatez
90
Jim Glennie, Mario Hezonja, Karl Pilkington, Chris Stark
83
Lawro (average after 25 weeks)
80
Richard Ashcroft, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg James, Mark Wahlberg
60
Idris Elba, Dolph Lundgren, Mumford & Sons, Dillian Whyte
50
Bring Me The Horizon, Theo Ellis, Drew McIntyre, Mohamed Sanu, Dolph Ziggler
40
Tom Grennan, Josh Warrington
30
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Oti Mabuse
20
Yizzy
Lawro's best score: 260 points (week seven v Karl Pilkington)
Lawro's worst score: 20 points (week 24 v Grime star Yizzy & week 25 v Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarter-back Ryan Fitzpatrick and Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu)Source: bbc.com
Comments