Premier League predictions: Lawro v Sea Power guitarist & Man Utd fan Martin Noble

Norwich manager Dean Smith is up against some familiar faces on Tuesday but can he beat his former club Aston Villa, just five weeks after they sacked him?

"Smith has done well since taking over at Norwich," said BBC Sport football expert Mark Lawrenson. "He's got a reaction from the players, and got an improvement out of the team.

"They were quite passive at the start of the season but they are much more 'in your face' now and they look like they have got a goal or two in them, which they didn't before he arrived. I think Villa are in for a tricky night."

Norwich have played five games under Smith and have won one, drawn two and lost two, leaving them three points adrift of fourth-bottom Watford

Lawro is making predictions for all 380 top-flight matches this season, against a variety of guests.

This week's guest is Martin Noble, guitarist with rock band Sea Power, whose new album Everything Was Forever is released in February 2022.

Martin lives in Brighton now but was a regular at Old Trafford as a child in the 1980s when Ron Atkinson was United manager. "We weren't a great team, but we were exciting to watch," he said.

Martin is a Manchester United fan and watched them regularly when he was growing up in Bury in the 1980s, a time when there were far fewer foreign stars in the top flight.

"Old Trafford just felt enormous and, as a kid, just being in a huge crowd like that was amazing," he told BBC Sport.

"My favourite player was Jesper Olsen - our exotic Danish winger. I always remember being sat in awe watching him fly down the wing.

"Around that time my dad took me and my brothers down to watch United train at the Cliff [the club's old training base] and I got a few autographs that I stuck in a scrapbook, next to the player's Panini sticker on each page.

"I've still got the book - I've got Olsen's signature, plus Norman Whiteside, Paul McGrath, Clayton Blackmore and, for some reason, Mark Hughes twice.

"Hughes was a brilliant player but I don't know why I got him twice. I think he just came back along the line when I was still stood there, and came back to me without realising."

Sadly, Noble's United autograph collection did not continue beyond the 1985-86 season

United's game against Brentford on Tuesday has been postponed because of a Covid-19 outbreak at the Old Trafford club. Noble had predicted a 2-1 win for United, but what is he expecting from them during the rest of the season?

"A top-four finish is the target now but there is a lot of work to do," he said.

"We beat Norwich on Saturday but the way we played was pretty shocking. The system Ralf Rangnick played, sticking Bruno Fernandes out in that weird role on the left, just didn't work.

"We also didn't deal with Norwich's full-backs, and they were just bombing forward the whole time. If we'd been playing a better team then the result would have been very different.

"He either needs to change the system or get them to be better at it, but I just want to see the team playing well again because we haven't done that for a while."

Sea Power's latest track, Folly, was released in October - they start a UK tour in April 2022

Premier League predictions - week 17
	Result	Lawro	Martin
TUESDAY
Brentford v Man Utd	P-P	P-P	P-P
Norwich v Aston Villa	0-2	2-1	0-1
Man City v Leeds	7-0	3-0	4-0
WEDNESDAY
Brighton v Wolves	0-1	2-1	2-1
Burnley v Watford	P-P	P-P	P-P
Crystal Palace v Southampton	2-2	2-1	2-0
Arsenal v West Ham	2-0	2-1	2-2
THURSDAY
Leicester v Tottenham	P-P	P-P	P-P
Chelsea v Everton	1-1	2-0	2-0
Liverpool v Newcastle	3-1	3-0	4-0

Brentford v Manchester United and Burnley v Watford have been postponed following a number of Covid-19 cases at United, Watford and Leicester.

A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

LAWRO'S PREDICTIONS

TUESDAY

Brentford P-P Man Utd

This match has been postponed following a number of positive Covid-19 cases at Manchester United.

Norwich 0-2 Aston Villa

Lawro's prediction: 2-1

Martin's prediction: 0-1

Match report

Man City 7-0 Leeds

Lawro's prediction: 3-0

Martin's prediction: 4-0

Match report

WEDNESDAY

Brighton 0-1 Wolves

Lawro's prediction: 2-1

Martin's prediction: 2-1

Match report

Burnley P-P Watford

This match has been postponed following a number of positive Covid-19 cases at Watford

Crystal Palace 2-2 Southampton

Lawro's prediction: 2-1

Martin's prediction: 2-0

Match report

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

Lawro's prediction: 2-1

Martin's prediction: 2-2

Match report

THURSDAY

Leicester P-P Tottenham

This match has been postponed following a number of positive Covid-19 cases at Leicester.

Chelsea 1-1 Everton

Lawro's prediction: 2-0

Martin's prediction: 2-0

Match report

Liverpool 3-1 Newcastle

Lawro's prediction: 3-0

Martin's prediction: 4-0

Match report

Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.

How did Lawro do last week?

From last weekend's Premier League games, Lawro got eight correct results from nine matches, including one exact score, for a total of 110 points.

He beat Idles bassist Dev, who got six correct results with one exact score, for a total of 90 points.

Tottenham's game at Brighton was postponed following a number of positive Covid-19 cases among Spurs' players and staff. Dev went for a 2-1 Tottenham victory and any points he earns will be added to his tally when the game is played.

+/- DENOTE POSITION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAWRO'S TABLE AND ACTUAL POSITION
	TEAM	P	W	D	L	PTS	+/-
1	Man City	16	13	3	0	42	0
2	Liverpool	16	12	4	0	40	0
=3	Chelsea	16	11	5	0	38	0
=3	Leicester	16	11	5	0	38	+5
=3	Man Utd	16	12	2	2	38	+2
6	Leeds	16	11	1	4	34	+9
7	Tottenham	14	7	5	2	26	0
=8	Arsenal	16	7	4	5	25	-2
=8	Aston Villa	16	7	4	5	25	+5
10	West Ham	16	6	5	5	23	-6
11	Brighton	15	5	3	7	18	0
=12	Newcastle	16	4	3	9	15	+7
=12	Wolves	16	4	3	9	15	-3
=14	Burnley	15	4	2	9	14	+4
=14	Southampton	16	4	2	10	14	+2
16	Brentford	16	4	1	11	13	-6
17	Everton	16	3	1	12	10	-3
18	Crystal Palace	16	2	3	11	9	-6
19	Norwich	16	0	4	12	4	+1
20	Watford	16	0	3	13	3	-3

GUEST LEADERBOARD 2021-22

Score	Guest
130	Jamie Webster
110	Friction, She Drew The Gun
90	Dev from Idles
80	Lawro (average after 16 weeks), Tom McFarland
70	Ben Cajee, Elena Cole, Jelani Blackman
60	Haydn Craven
50	Aqib Khan, Shaun Thomas
40	Dan Haggis of The Wombats, Murray & Tav from FUR, Justin Young
30	Michael 'Venom' Page, Roger Taylor, Zuzu
10	Tom Hughes

Total scores after week 16
Lawro	1,280
Guests	990

Lawro v Guests
P16	W12	D2	L2

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