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This Sunday sees the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but which side will celebrate – the Black Cats or the Magpies?
"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club rising to the top flight and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," commented pundit Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way Sunderland play makes me think they've got a real chance."
Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against AI, the public and a variety of guests.
For the upcoming matchday, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the England's esports team – the Football Association's official esports team – at the football simulation digital Euros finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.
The fan-favourite scoreline selected for each game is displayed on the tables at the bottom of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns forty points.
Ray, who represents his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the preliminary stage.
Eight players will play for their countries at the finals in a knockout format, vying for a $100,000 prize pool and a highly sought-after spot in the world finals play-offs, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"My mindset is really good for it," Ray remarked. "There's a really good coach alongside me and practice has been going well.
"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you go into this job and there is an chance to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something special.
"I defeated Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him throughout the year just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd always lost to him in a tournament before.
"I believe he is the number one in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just delivers a huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Forecasts
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The Blues were impressive against the Gunners at the end of November, when they secured a point after going down to 10 men, and it seemed here we go, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to restore momentum, but it will be a challenge because Everton are such a dangerous team.
Their key midfielders are playing exceptionally and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
On form you would likely back the visitors, while the most logical prediction would likely 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 Chelsea will emerge victorious because they are at home and they are in need of three points.
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 important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot should not have to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a legend for the club but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.
They changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top.
Everyone is going to be talking about whether Salah is included for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he makes amends.
Slot's primary concern will be on winning this game, but it is a challenging encounter.
It's fair to say it is the same for most teams but I find Brighton so hard to predict. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are defensively susceptible too.
Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have drained them.
I put a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will likely do poorly - but I do fancy 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 week off while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.
Aside from their brilliant performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form hasn't been great, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.
It is anticipated that that trend to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.
Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the signings of the season and warrants praise too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
