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Sunday heralds the first Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – the Black Cats or Newcastle?

"Throughout the majority of last season, it was unthinkable Sunderland getting promoted and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," remarked analyst Chris Sutton.

"Things are very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe they've got a real chance."

The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, in competition with AI, fans and a range of guests.

For this weekend's fixtures, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is going for glory for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the football simulation European esports championship finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

You can watch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.

Are you in alignment with their predictions? You can make your own predictions below.

The most popular scoreline selected 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 forty points.

Ray, who represents Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualifying.

The final eight competitors will represent their nations at the finals in a straight knockout, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"My mindset is really good for it," Ray said. "I've got a really good coach by my side and preparation has been going well.

"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you go into this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something unique.

"I defeated Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him recently 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 Predictions

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The Blues were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and many thought this is it, they could potentially 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 head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to return to winning ways, but it won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a threatening team.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing at the top of their game 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 logical prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

The Blues have failed to given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a hunch Chelsea 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'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 important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot should not have to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a icon for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.

Liverpool changed their tactical setup against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top.

The media 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 tough one.

You could argue 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 vulnerable at the back 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 affected their stamina.

I put 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 Wearside club have had the week off while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.

Apart from their brilliant 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 lack of freshness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of their rivals' intensity.

It was evident how relentless 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 superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with him, has also been one of the top transfers and deserves some attention too.

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