FA Cup and Premier League predictions: Lawro v Wade Barrett

BBC Sport expert Mark Lawrenson

BBC Sport's football expert Mark Lawrenson is pitting his wits against a different guest each week this season.

Lawro's opponent for this weekend's FA Cup semi-finals and Premier League fixtures is WWE wrestling star Wade 'Bad News' Barrett.

WWE wrestling star Wade 'Bad News' Barrett gives his predictions

Barrett is a lifelong Preston fan who has trained with the team and invited some of their players along to the 'WWE Live' show in Manchester last weekend.

"I went out in front of the crowd and kind of disrespected Manchester United and Manchester City to all of the Manchester fans," Barrett told BBC Sport.

"I told them it was about time they saw what a real team looked like, at which point I brought the Preston boys out on to the stage.

Wade Barrett and the Preston players at the WWE Live
Barrett and the Preston players got a hot reception from United and City fans last week

"Of course we were roundly booed by everybody, and then I went down to the ring and started beating people up. It was a lot of fun."

It is not the first time Barrett has clashed with United - in February he had a light-hearted run-in on social media with Wayne Rooney about the striker's controversial penalty at Deepdale in the FA Cup fifth round.

"We had put in an amazing performance but Wayne ruined it all by diving for that penalty in the dying minutes," Barrett explained.

"So I called him out and offered to fight him, at which point he decided he wanted 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin as a tag-team partner.

"I brought in my own partner, Preston striker Kevin Davies, and as far as I was concerned everything was set. But then Wayne went very quiet. I think he knows he is a beaten man but hopefully one day we will catch up with each other."

FA Cup semi-final predictions
ResultLawro'Bad News'
SATURDAY
Reading v Arsenal1-2 (AET)0-21-3
SUNDAY
Aston Villa v Liverpool2-10-10-2

You can see all of 'Bad News' Barrett's predictions on Football Focus at 12:10 BST on BBC One and the BBC Sport website (in the UK).

Premier League predictions - Week 33
ResultLawro'Bad News'
SATURDAY
Crystal Palace v West Brom0-21-13-2
Everton v Burnley1-02-04-1
Leicester v Swansea2-02-10-1
Stoke v Southampton2-11-21-1
Chelsea v Man Utd1-01-13-1
SUNDAY
Man City v West Ham2-02-02-2
Newcastle v Tottenham1-31-11-0

A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth ONE point. Getting the exact score correct earns THREE points.

Last weekend, Lawro got five correct results from 10 Premier League games, with three perfect scores.

His score of 11 points saw him beat The Vaccines singer Justin Young, who picked seven correct results, but with only one perfect score. That gave him a total of nine points.

We are keeping a record of the totals for Lawro and his guests (below), and showing a table of how the Premier League would look if all of Lawro's predictions were correct (at the bottom of the page).

Total scores after week 32
Lawro230
Guests226

LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS

SATURDAY

Crystal Palace v West Brom

Crystal Palace 0-2 West Brom

Lawro's prediction: 1-1

'Bad News' Barrett's prediction: 3-1

Match report

Everton v Burnley

Everton 1-0 Burnley

Lawro's prediction: 2-0

'Bad News' Barrett's prediction: I am a Preston fan so it is my job to hate Burnley. 4-1

Match report

Leicester v Swansea

Leicester 2-0 Swansea

Lawro's prediction: 2-1

'Bad News' Barrett's prediction: 0-1

Match report

Stoke v Southampton

Stoke 2-1 Southampton

Lawro's prediction: 1-2

'Bad News' Barrett's prediction: 1-1

Match report

Reading v Arsenal

Reading 1-2 Arsenal (AET)

Lawro's prediction: 0-2

'Bad News' Barrett's prediction: 1-3

Match report

Chelsea v Manchester United

Chelsea 1-0 Man Utd

Lawro's prediction: 1-1

'Bad News' Barrett's prediction: 3-1

Match report

SUNDAY

Man City v West Ham

Man City 2-0 West Ham

Lawro's prediction: 2-0

'Bad News' Barrett's prediction: 2-2

Match report

Aston Villa v Liverpool

Aston Villa 2-1 Liverpool

Lawro's prediction: 0-1

'Bad News' Barrett's prediction: 0-2

Match report

Newcastle v Tottenham

Newcastle 1-3 Tottenham

Lawro's prediction: 1-1

'Bad News' Barrett's prediction: 1-0

Match report

Lawro v Guests
P32W14D4L14
SCOREGUEST LEADERBOARD
17Kieran Shudall
12Mark Ronson
11Steph Houghton
10Liam Fray, Rachel Riley
9Kelly Smith, Phil 'The Power' Taylor, Justin Young
8Death in Paradise, Roddy Doyle, Tim Henman, Olly Murs, Dermot O'Leary, Henning Wehn, Benedict Wong
7.18Lawro (average after 32 weeks)
7Miles Jacobson, Ossie Ardiles, Seann Walsh
6Carl Fogarty, George Ford*, Football Manager, Mark Wright & Karen Hauer, Steve Wilson
5Joe Cole, The Eggheads, Sarah Harding & Leon Fagbemi, Van McCann, Adil Ray
4Kell Brook, Guy Mowbray
2John Cooper Clarke, Neil Lennon, Jack O'Connell

* Does not include scores for postponed game - Leicester v Chelsea

Lawro's best score: 17 points (week seven v Ossie Ardiles)

Lawro's worst score: 2 points (week 20 v Steve Wilson)

BBC Sport expert Mark Lawrenson
ARROWS DENOTE DIFFERENCE TO REAL TABLE
POSTEAMPWDLPTSDIFF+/-
1.Chelsea31283087Side arrow0
2.Man City32266084Up arrow+2
3.Arsenal32228274Down arrow-1
4.Man Utd32207567Down arrow-1
5.Liverpool321811365Side arrow0
6.Southampton32158953Side arrow0
7.Everton321310949Up arrow+5
8.Tottenham321211947Down arrow-1
9.Hull321221838Up arrow+8
10.West Ham321071537Down arrow-1
11.Aston Villa331051835Up arrow+4
12.Sunderland328111335Up arrow+4
13.Crystal Palace32961733Down arrow-2
14.Stoke32881632Down arrow-4
15.Newcastle327111432Down arrow-2
16.West Brom32881632Down arrow-2
17.Burnley32752026Up arrow+2
18.Swansea32652123Down arrow-10
19.Leicester31642122Up arrow+1
20.QPR33632421Down arrow-2

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