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Sunday sees the first Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or the Magpies?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland getting promoted and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," commented pundit Chris Sutton.
"The situation is very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe they've got a solid shot."
Sutton is making predictions 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 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 is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their predictions? Share your own predictions below.
The most commonly selected scoreline selected for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the bottom of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. The exact score 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 qualification rounds.
A group of eight will represent their nations at the finals in a straight knockout, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a coveted spot in the global championship qualifiers, 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 by my side 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 enter this profession and there is an opportunity to represent England, putting the shirt on is something unique.
"I beat 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 not previously defeated him in a tournament before.
"In my opinion he is the top competitor in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just delivers a massive injection of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
Chelsea were impressive against Arsenal 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 potentially be challengers for the crown.
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 boss Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to restore momentum, 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 form at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would probably back Everton, while the most sensible prediction would likely be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.
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 due a win.
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 the Reds.
It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot ought not to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a icon for the club but at its core 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 selected 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 mercurial. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are vulnerable at the back too.
The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their exertions 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 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 Black Cats have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.
Aside from their excellent 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 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' intensity.
It was evident how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.
Commentators 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.
All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture
