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Sunday brings the first Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – the Black Cats or the Magpies?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland rising to the top flight and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," commented football expert Chris Sutton.
"Things are very different now, and the way they play makes me think they've got a real chance."
The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against AI, readers and a range of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is going for glory for the eLions – the Football Association's official esports team – at the football simulation European esports championship finals tournament, which takes place 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 its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their scores? Share your own projections below.
The most popular scoreline selected for each game is used in the leaderboards at the end of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. An accurate scoreline earns forty 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 qualifying.
The final eight competitors will represent their nations at the finals in a knockout format, vying for a substantial cash prize and a prestigious spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "There's a really good coach alongside me and preparation has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an professional footballer, but when you go into this job 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 not previously defeated him in a tournament before.
"In my opinion he is the top competitor in the world so getting a win over 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 London club were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking this is it, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So boss Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to restore momentum, but it won't be easy because the Toffees are such a dangerous team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing exceptionally and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would likely back the visitors, while the most prudent prediction would probably 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 hunch they will win this match because they are at home and they are due a win.
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 controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot ought not to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a icon for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.
Liverpool changed their tactical setup against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.
The media 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 says sorry.
Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a tough one.
One might suggest 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 defensively susceptible too.
Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have taken out of them.
I put a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will likely do poorly - 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 Wearside club have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.
Aside from their excellent 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.
I am expecting that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.
It was evident how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.
Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the signings of the season and deserves some attention too.
All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture
