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Sunday heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but which side will celebrate – Sunderland or the Magpies?

"During the bulk of last season, no one would have predicted Sunderland earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," remarked analyst Chris Sutton.

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

The analyst is providing forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against artificial intelligence, the public and a range of guests.

For the upcoming matchday, 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 Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and England's Twitch.

Do you agree with their forecasts? You can make your own predictions below.

The most commonly selected scoreline selected for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the foot of this page.

A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns 40 points.

Ray, who competes for Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualification rounds.

A group of eight will represent their nations at the finals in a knockout format, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I have a really good coach alongside me and training has been going well.

"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you enter this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something special.

"I overcame 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.

"For me he is the best player in the world so defeating 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 Blues were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and it seemed they've turned a corner, they could possibly be title contenders.

Since then, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to get back on track, but it is a tough ask because Everton are such a potent team.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.

On form you would probably back Everton, while the most logical prediction would probably 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 feeling Chelsea will take this one 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'll be at this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from the Reds.

I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot ought not to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a legend for the club but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.

Liverpool 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 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 attention 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 defensively susceptible too.

Liverpool need to get back to a consistent run of form, 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 Fantasy Premier League side, so they will probably lose now - 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 week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.

With the exception of their superb 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 pattern to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.

We saw how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.

Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the signings of the season and deserves some attention too.

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