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The weekend heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but which side will celebrate – Sunderland or Newcastle?

"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," commented pundit Chris Sutton.

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

The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, fans and a assortment of guests.

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

Ray is going for glory for the England's esports team – the Football Association's recognised esports team – at the gaming title Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch 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.

What are your thoughts with their forecasts? Share your own predictions below.

The most commonly selected scoreline picked for each game is used in the scoreboards at the bottom of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.

Ray, who represents Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualification rounds.

A group of eight will represent their nations at the finals in a straight knockout, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a coveted spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain 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.

"Representing your country is always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an professional footballer, but when you enter this profession and there is an opportunity to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something incredible.

"I defeated 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 always lost to him in a tournament before.

"In my opinion 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 Forecasts

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The Blues were excellent against the Gunners at the end of November, when they got a draw after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking this is it, they could possibly be title contenders.

Since then, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So head coach Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because the Toffees are such a dangerous 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 probably back Everton, while the most logical prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

Chelsea haven't given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a feeling they 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'm attending this game and it will be intriguing to see what we get from the Reds.

It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot should not have to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a icon for the club but at its core Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.

Liverpool changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation 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 makes amends.

Slot's primary concern will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.

You could argue 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.

The Merseysiders 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 affected their stamina.

I put 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

The Black Cats have had the week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.

Apart from their excellent performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been poor, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.

The pattern suggests that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a factor 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 incredible to watch.

Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the top transfers and deserves some attention too.

All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture