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This Sunday heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but which side will celebrate – Sunderland or the Magpies?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club rising to the top flight and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," commented pundit Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way they play makes me think they've got a genuine opportunity."
Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, the public and a variety of guests.
For the upcoming matchday, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's official esports team – at the gaming title Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.
Do you agree with their forecasts? Feel free to submit your own predictions below.
The most popular scoreline selected for each game is featured in the leaderboards at the foot of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. The exact score earns 40 points.
Ray, who also plays his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualifying.
A group of eight will fly the flag at the finals in a knockout format, vying for a six-figure prize fund and a prestigious spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "I have a really good coach by my side and preparation has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you enter this profession and there is an chance to represent England, donning the national jersey is something unique.
"I overcame 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 not previously defeated him in a tournament before.
"For me he is the best player in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just delivers 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 Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after being reduced to 10 men, and it seemed this is it, they could potentially be title contenders.
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 head coach Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to get back on track, but it won't be easy because Everton are such a dangerous team.
Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
On form you would likely back Everton, while the most logical prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.
Chelsea haven't given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a feeling 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 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 should not have to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a great for Liverpool but essentially 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 formation and two up top.
The media is going to be talking about whether Salah is selected for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he makes amends.
Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.
One might suggest it is the same for most teams but I find Brighton so unpredictable. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are defensively susceptible too.
Liverpool 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 have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will almost certainly blank - 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
Sunderland have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.
Apart from their excellent performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form hasn't been great, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.
The pattern suggests that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of their rivals' high press.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.
Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been excellent, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the signings of the season and should be recognised too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
