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This Sunday sees the first Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – the Black Cats or Newcastle?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland earning promotion and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated football expert 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 scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, against artificial intelligence, the public and a variety of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is vying for victory for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's official esports team – at the football simulation digital Euros finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
You can watch Uefa's YouTube, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and England's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their forecasts? You can make your own predictions below.
The most popular scoreline selected for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the end of this page.
Getting the win/draw/loss right (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten 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 successfully navigating the qualifying.
A group of eight will represent their nations at the finals in a single-elimination, vying for a six-figure prize fund and a coveted spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I have a really good coach alongside me and preparation has been going well.
"Representing your country is always an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you enter this profession and there is an chance to represent England, putting the shirt on is something incredible.
"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.
"I believe he is the number one in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just delivers a massive injection of confidence."
Premier League Forecasts
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The Blues were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could possibly be title contenders.
However, since that game, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So boss Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to restore momentum, but it won't be easy because the Toffees are such a potent team.
Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
Based on recent performances you would probably back the visitors, while the most logical prediction would probably 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 gut instinct they will emerge victorious 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 interesting to see what we get from Liverpool.
It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot ought not to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a great for the club but fundamentally 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 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 apologises.
Slot's focus 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 quite open too.
Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, 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 likely do poorly - but I do think they can 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 Wearside club 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.
Aside from their superb 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.
It is anticipated that that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of their rivals' high press.
We saw how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.
Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the signings of the season and should be recognised too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
