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Sunday heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but which side will celebrate – the Black Cats or the Magpies?

"For most of last season, it was unthinkable Sunderland earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," remarked pundit Chris Sutton.

"It is very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a solid shot."

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

For this weekend's fixtures, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is going for glory for the England's esports team – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the gaming title European esports championship finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

You can watch Uefa's YouTube, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.

Are you in alignment with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own projections below.

The most popular scoreline selected for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the end of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns 40 points.

Ray, who represents his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualification rounds.

A group of eight will fly the flag at the finals in a straight knockout, vying for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I've got a really good coach alongside me and training has been going well.

"Representing your country is 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 enter this profession and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something incredible.

"I beat 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.

"For me he is the best player in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just gives you a massive injection of confidence."

Premier League Predictions

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The London club were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and it seemed here we go, they could potentially be title contenders.

Since then, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked flat 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 restore momentum, but it is a tough ask because the Toffees are such a dangerous team.

Two of their stars are playing really well and they have got a bit of form at the moment.

Based on recent performances you would probably back the visitors, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

The Blues have failed to given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct Chelsea will win this match 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 interesting to see what we get from Liverpool.

I was delighted 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 should not have to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a great for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.

They changed their tactical setup 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 apologises.

Slot's attention will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.

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 stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have affected their stamina.

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 let their lead slip away late on.

Apart from their excellent performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been inconsistent, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.

It is anticipated that that trend 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' high press.

It was evident how incessant 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 phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been excellent, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside 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