All eyes – and ears – will be trained on Old Trafford on Saturday where Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to make his much-anticipated second debut for Manchester United.
“I don’t think Ronaldo will necessarily start,” says BBC football expert Mark Lawrenson. “But he will definitely play some part – and, no, I would not be surprised at all if he scored.”
Lawro is making predictions for all 380 top-flight matches this season, against a variety of guests.
This week’s guest is singer and guitarist Justin Young from indie rock band The Vaccines, whose new album Back In Love City is out on Friday.
Justin Young grew up in Southampton as a Manchester United fan. “My family supported Southampton and I didn’t want to support the same team as them,” he explained. “I was five, and Manchester United were the only other team I had heard of.”Justin is a United fan who is relishing the return of Ronaldo, but admits he is unsure what to expect from the Reds this season.
“Once again we are starting a campaign with what looks like, on paper, a pretty fabulous team – maybe even more so with the return of CR7,” he told BBC Sport.
“But it has been almost 10 years in the relative wilderness for us now so, like many United fans, I have gone from expecting us to win something every season to now really feeling like I am going to be perpetually disappointed.
“I am not a natural optimist to be honest with you. We have a great team, and some great players but I just don’t know yet how we will do. I am not sure I know enough about how we are going to set up and play this season.
“Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a United legend, and I had posters of him on my wall when I was growing up.
“He will forever be a United great and forever be a hero to me but, given the time he has had as manager and the starting line-up he now has, I think it is on him to deliver now, and start proving the people who doubt him wrong.”
Back In Love City is The Vaccines’ fifth studio album since their debut in 2011. The previous four all reached the top five and Come Of Age reached number oneResultLawroJustinSATURDAYCrystal Palace v Tottenham3-00-10-3Arsenal v Norwich1-02-01-1Brentford v Brighton0-11-11-0Leicester v Man City0-11-21-2Man Utd v Newcastle4-13-03-0Southampton v West Ham0-02-11-0Watford v Wolves0-21-22-2Chelsea v Aston Villa3-02-03-1SUNDAYLeeds v Liverpool0-31-20-2MONDAYEverton v Burnleyx-x2-01-1A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
LAWRO’S PREDICTIONSGames kick off at 15:00 BST unless otherwise stated
SATURDAY
Crystal Palace 3-0 TottenhamLawro’s prediction: 0-1
Justin’s prediction: 0-3
Match report
Arsenal 1-0 NorwichLawro’s prediction: 2-0
Justin’s prediction: 1-1
Match report
Brentford 0-1 BrightonLawro’s prediction: 1-1
Justin’s prediction: 1-0
Match report
Leicester 0-1 Manchester CityLawro’s prediction: 1-2
Justin’s prediction: 1-2
Match report
Manchester United 4-1 NewcastleLawro’s prediction: 3-0
Justin’s prediction: 3-0
Match report
Southampton 0-0 West HamLawro’s prediction: 2-1
Justin’s prediction: 1-0
Match report
Watford 0-2 WolvesLawro’s prediction: 1-2
Justin’s prediction: 2-2
Match report
Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa Lawro’s prediction: 2-0
Justin’s prediction: 3-1
Match report
SUNDAY
Leeds 0-3 LiverpoolLawro’s prediction: 1-2
Justin’s prediction: 0-2
Match report
MONDAY
Everton 3-1 BurnleyLawro’s prediction: 2-0
Match report
Justin’s prediction: Burnley are awkward enough to get something out of this. 1-1
Lawro was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.
How did Lawro do last time?In the round of games before the international break, Lawro drew with Jungle’s Tom McFarland. They both got five correct results from 10 matches, including one exact score, for a total of 80 points.
TEAMPWDLPTS+/-=1Aston Villa33009+10=1Brighton33009+7=1Man City33009+6=1Man Utd33009+2=4Leicester32107+5=4Liverpool32107+16Leeds32016+9=7Chelsea31205-3=7West Ham31205-5=9Brentford31114+1=9Newcastle31114+8=9Tottenham31114-812Everton31023-613Arsenal30212+714Wolves30121+4=15Burnley30030+1=15Crystal Palace30030-1=15Norwich30030+4=15Southampton30030-2=15Watford30030-3GUEST LEADERBOARD 2021-22110She Drew The Gun80Lawro (average after three weeks)80Tom McFarland40Dan Haggis of The Wombats
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