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This Sunday sees the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club getting promoted and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," remarked pundit Chris Sutton.
"The situation is very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe they've got a genuine opportunity."
The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, against artificial intelligence, fans and a range of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is vying for victory for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's official esports team – at the football simulation Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
You can watch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and England's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own predictions below.
The fan-favourite scoreline chosen for each game is used in the scoreboards at the end of this page.
A correct result (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.
Ray, who also plays Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the preliminary stage.
Eight players will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a six-figure prize fund and a highly sought-after spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I have a really good coach by my side and training has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an professional footballer, but when you go into this profession and there is an opportunity to represent England, putting the shirt on is something incredible.
"I beat 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.
"In my opinion he is the best player in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just gives you a huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Forecasts
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
Chelsea were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they got a draw after going down to 10 men, and many thought this is it, they could potentially be title contenders.
In the matches following, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got defeated by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to get back on track, but it won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a potent team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.
Based on recent performances you would likely back Everton, while the most prudent 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 gut instinct Chelsea will take this one 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'm attending this game and it will be intriguing 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 controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot shouldn't need to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a icon for the club but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.
They changed their tactical setup 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 back for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he makes amends.
Slot's attention will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.
One might suggest 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 quite open too.
The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have drained them.
I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, so they will almost certainly blank - 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 week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.
Apart from their superb 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.
The pattern suggests that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.
Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the top transfers and deserves some attention too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
