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This Sunday brings the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club getting promoted and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," stated pundit Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way Sunderland play leads me to believe they've got a genuine opportunity."
Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, the public and a assortment of guests.
For the upcoming matchday, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the eLions – the Football Association's recognised esports team – at the football simulation Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's YouTube, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their scores? Feel free to submit your own projections below.
The most commonly selected scoreline selected for each game is featured in the tables at the foot of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.
Ray, who also plays Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after getting through the preliminary stage.
A group of eight will represent their nations at the finals in a knockout format, playing for a substantial cash prize and a prestigious 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 stated. "There's a really good coach with me and preparation has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you fantasise about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you go into this profession and there is an chance to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something special.
"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.
"For me he is the number one in the world so defeating 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
Chelsea were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after being reduced to 10 men, and it seemed they've turned a corner, they could potentially be title contenders.
In the matches following, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So manager Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to return to winning ways, but it will be a challenge because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.
Two of their stars are playing at the top of their game and they have got a bit of form at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would probably back the visitors, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.
They have not given me any compelling evidence 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'm attending this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from the Reds.
It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot ought not to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a icon for Liverpool but at its core 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 back for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he apologises.
Slot's primary concern 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.
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 taken out of them.
I put 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 work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.
Apart from their brilliant performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been inconsistent, particularly 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 factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's energetic style.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.
Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and warrants praise too.
All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture
