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This Sunday sees the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but which side will celebrate – Sunderland or Newcastle?

"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland getting promoted and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated pundit Chris Sutton.

"The situation is very different now, and the way Sunderland play makes me think they've got a genuine opportunity."

The analyst is providing forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against AI, readers and a variety of guests.

For the upcoming matchday, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is competing for honours for the England's esports team – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the gaming title digital Euros finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The action will be streamed on Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and short-form video 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 projections below.

The most commonly selected scoreline picked for each game is used in the leaderboards at the end of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. A perfect prediction earns forty points.

Ray, who also plays his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualifying.

A group of eight will represent their nations at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a substantial cash prize and a highly sought-after spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain 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's always an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you go into this profession 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 over the course of the season just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd always lost to him in a tournament before.

"I believe he is the best player in the world so getting a win over 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 Blues were outstanding against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced to 10 men, and it seemed they've turned a corner, they could possibly be title contenders.

Since then, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got defeated by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So boss Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to return to winning ways, but it won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.

Their key midfielders are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.

On form you would likely back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

Chelsea haven't given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a feeling they 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 interesting to see what we get from Liverpool.

I am really pleased for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot ought not 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.

Liverpool changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top.

All the talk is going to be talking about whether Salah is selected 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 challenging encounter.

One might suggest 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 quite open too.

The Merseysiders need to get back to a consistent run of form, 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 Fantasy Premier League side, 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

The Wearside club have had the week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.

With the exception of 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 tendency to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.

It was evident how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.

Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with him, has also been one of the top transfers and deserves some attention too.

I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture