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Sunday brings the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or the Magpies?
"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," commented pundit Chris Sutton.
"Things are very different now, and the way Sunderland play makes me think they've got a solid shot."
Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, fans and a variety of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is going for glory for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the football simulation Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
You can watch Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
Do you agree with their forecasts? Feel free to submit your own predictions below.
The most commonly selected scoreline picked for each game is featured in the scoreboards at the end of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns forty points.
Ray, who also plays his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the preliminary stage.
The final eight competitors will play for their countries at the finals in a single-elimination, competing for a six-figure prize fund and a prestigious spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I have a really good coach by my side and preparation has been going well.
"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you go into this field and there is an chance to represent England, donning the national jersey is something incredible.
"I overcame Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him recently just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd always lost to him in a tournament before.
"In my opinion he is the top competitor in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just delivers a huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The London club were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they secured a point after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could possibly be title contenders.
In the matches following, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So manager Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because the Merseyside club are such a threatening team.
Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and they have got a bit of momentum at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would likely back Everton, while the most logical prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.
Chelsea haven't given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a feeling they will emerge victorious because they are at home and they are overdue a victory.
Sutton's prediction: 2-1
Stingray's prediction: With this being at the Bridge, I am going to back Chelsea. I think they will start off really well and go 2-0 up, then Everton will nick one back but then Chelsea score late. 3-1
AI's prediction: 2-0
Liverpool vs Brighton
Anfield, 15:00 GMT
I'll be at this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from the Reds.
I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot should not have to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a great for the club but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.
They changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.
All the talk is going to be talking about whether Salah is included for this game, but the only way he is going to be reintegrated is if he says sorry.
Slot's attention will be on winning this game, but it is a tough one.
It's fair to say it is the same for most teams but I find Brighton so mercurial. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are defensively susceptible too.
Liverpool need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have drained them.
I've selected a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will probably lose now - but I do fancy them to get something at Anfield.
Sutton's prediction: 2-2
Stingray's prediction: This is a game which is going to give Liverpool a bit more of their confidence back. Obviously they had a good win in midweek and they can build more momentum here. 2-1
AI's prediction: 3-1
Sunday, 14 December
Sunderland vs Newcastle
Stadium of Light, 14:00 GMT
Sunderland have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.
Apart from their superb performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been poor, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.
The pattern suggests that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's intensity.
It was evident how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.
Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the signings of the season and warrants praise too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
