Why Mark Lawrenson is backing Leeds United for SHOCK win over Arsenal this weekend

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Writing in his weekly predictions column for BBC Sport, pundit Mark Lawrenson backed a 2-1 win for for Marcelo Bielsa's men.

Justifying his prediction, the ex-Liverpool defender claimed: "There's surely got to be a reaction from Arsenal, after such a poor performance in their defeat by Aston Villa.

"But I am going to go with Leeds here. They had a heavy defeat of their own, against Crystal Palace, but that game might have been a very different story if Patrick Bamford's equaliser had not been ruled out by a ridiculous offside decision."

Lawro continued: "I really do think this game is especially hard to call, but that is Leeds at the moment - they will go for it, but give the opposition chances.

"With the Gunners, the question is more about whether they turn up as a team - a case of 'same old Arsenal' if you like. They had just started to improve and had looked as if they were about to kick on under Mikel Arteta but instead they have been very inconsistent."

Meanwhile, Lawro's sparring partner for the week, Idles bassist Adam Devonshire, picked a 2-2 draw.

Last time the two sides met, back in January, the Gunners edged a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium thanks to midfielder Reiss Nelson's second-half goal.

As things stand, Leeds are 15th in the table, but a win could see them edge into the top half.