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Sunday heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or the Magpies?

"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland getting promoted and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," remarked analyst Chris Sutton.

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

He is offering forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against artificial intelligence, readers and a assortment of guests.

For this weekend's fixtures, he takes on 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 Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.

Do you agree with their scores? You can make your own predictions below.

The most popular scoreline picked for each game is featured in the leaderboards at the bottom of this page.

Getting the win/draw/loss right (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.

Ray, who competes for his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after passing the qualification rounds.

A group of eight will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "There's a really good coach alongside me and preparation has been going well.

"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an actual footballer, but when you pursue a career in this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, putting the shirt on is something unique.

"I overcame 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 best player in the world so defeating 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

The Blues were impressive against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking this is it, they could potentially be title contenders.

In the matches following, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So boss Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because the Toffees are such a potent team.

Two of their stars are playing at the top of their game and they have got a bit of momentum at the moment.

On form you would probably back the visitors, while the most logical prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.

The Blues have failed to given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a feeling they 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 am at this game and it will be intriguing 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 after all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot should not have to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a great for Liverpool but at its core 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.

All the talk 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 says sorry.

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

You could argue it is the same for most teams but I find Brighton so unpredictable. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are vulnerable at the back too.

Liverpool need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their exertions at the San Siro will have taken out of them.

I've selected a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, 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 benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.

With the exception of 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.

I am expecting that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.

We saw how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.

Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with him, has also been one of the top transfers and warrants praise too.

All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture