Mark Lawrenson slates 'extremely poor' Arsenal ahead of Sheffield United clash

Writing his weekly prediction piece for BBC Sport, pundit Mark Lawrenson gave his verdict on the potential scoreline, and opted for a 2-0 away win for the Gunners.

Explaining his choice, the ex-Preston and Liverpool defender contended: “For a while now it has been just a question of when Sheffield United are going to be relegated, not 'if'.

“The Blades beat Arsenal in this fixture last season, but it is hard to make a case for a repeat result this time, even knowing how bad the Gunners can be.

“Mikel Arteta's side were extremely poor in their 3-0 defeat by Liverpool last weekend, but they are so up and down at the moment that it doesn't mean they will be the same again - in this case, that is a good thing.”

Meanwhile, Lawro's opponent for the week, film star Steve Guttenberg, went for a shock 1-0 Blades win, but gave no indication as to why he had made the choice.

When the two sides last faced each other, back in October, two second-half Gunners goals in the space of three minutes undid the Blades solid defensive work up until that point, and David McGoldrick's stunning late strike was a mere consolation goal in a 2-1 loss.

A win for the Blades could see them slightly close the cavernous gap standing between them and safety, but with just eight games of the season left to play and a 15-point deficit to bridge, United need a miracle to escape the drop at this stage.