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This Sunday heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or Newcastle?

"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club getting promoted and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," stated pundit Chris Sutton.

"The situation is very different now, and the way Sunderland play makes me think they've got a solid shot."

He is offering forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, the public and a variety of guests.

For the upcoming matchday, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is going for glory for the eLions – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the gaming title Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur 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 YouTube and the national team's Twitch.

What are your thoughts with their forecasts? Share your own projections below.

The most commonly selected scoreline chosen for each game is displayed on the tables at the bottom of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.

Ray, who represents Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualification rounds.

Eight players will represent their nations at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a substantial cash prize and a highly sought-after spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I have a really good coach by my side and practice has been going well.

"Representing your country is always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you go into this job and there is an chance to represent England, putting the shirt on is something special.

"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 not previously defeated him in a tournament before.

"I believe he is the best player in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just gives you a huge surge of confidence."

Premier League Weekend Preview

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The London club were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking they've turned a corner, they could possibly be title contenders.

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

So boss Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to restore momentum, but it won't be easy because Everton are such a potent team.

Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.

Based on recent performances you would likely back the visitors, while the most logical 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 they will win this match because they are at home and they are in need of three points.

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 fascinating to see what we get from the Reds.

It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot shouldn't need to put up with that nonsense. 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 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 reintegrated is if he says sorry.

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 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 winning consistently, 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 Fantasy Premier League side, so they will likely do poorly - 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

The Black Cats 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.

With the exception of their superb performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been poor, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.

The pattern suggests that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of their rivals' intensity.

Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.

Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal 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.

This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture