Mark Lawrenson calls out Leeds United's 'soft centre' and makes Chelsea scoreline prediction

Writing in his weekly predictions column for BBC Sport, pundit Mark Lawrenson backed a 2-1 win for the Blues.

Justifying his prediction, the ex-Liverpool defender claimed: "Whenever I see this fixture I think about the tempestuous 1970 FA Cup final between the teams, which I went to. Leeds are still up and at you, but in a different way.

"Marcelo Bielsa's side started the season well, but have had a mixed recent run of results which saw them ship four goals in two successive games. I think the quickness of the players among some Premier League sides have caused them problems. The soft centre in this team is defensively."

Lawro continued: "The front players for Chelsea will be too good for Leeds, and manager Frank Lampard also has to decide about what to do with his striker Olivier Giroud after he scored four against Sevilla."

"At the back the Blues are conceding fewer. Chelsea's new keeper Edouard Mendy is doing well and Thiago Silva has settled at the back and is helping fellow centre-back Kurt Zouma. At the moment I think Chelsea have a good chance of a top-four finish."

Meanwhile, Lawro's sparring partner for the week, Faithless' Sister Bliss, tipped the Blues for a 2-1 win.

The last time the two sides met, back in 2012, Leeds were battered 5-1 at Elland Road in the League Cup, despite the Whites heading into half-time 1-0 up.