Mark Lawrenson slates 'extremely poor' Arsenal ahead of Sheffield United clash
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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.
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Hide AdExplaining 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.”
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Hide AdMeanwhile, 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.