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The weekend heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or the Magpies?

"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," commented football expert Chris Sutton.

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

The analyst is providing predictions 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 vying for victory for the eLions – the Football Association's official esports team – at the EA Sports FC Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.

Are you in alignment with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own projections below.

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

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

Ray, who represents his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the preliminary stage.

The final eight competitors will play for their countries at the finals in a knockout format, playing for a substantial cash prize and a highly sought-after 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 said. "There's a really good coach with me and practice 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 professional footballer, but when you pursue a career in this field and there is an opportunity to represent England, putting the shirt on is something incredible.

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

"In my opinion he is the number one in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just provides a crazy boost of confidence."

Premier League Forecasts

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The London club were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they got a draw after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking this is it, they could possibly be title contenders.

However, since that game, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So manager Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because the Toffees are such a dangerous team.

Their key midfielders are playing at the top of their game and Everton have got a bit of momentum at the moment.

Based on recent performances you would likely back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

Chelsea haven't given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct 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 am at this game and it will be interesting to see what we get from the Reds.

It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot shouldn't need 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 ulterior motive in his team selection.

They changed their shape against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation 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 reintegrated is if he makes amends.

Slot's focus 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 mercurial. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are quite open too.

The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have taken out of them.

I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, so they will almost certainly blank - 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

Sunderland have had the benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.

With the exception of their brilliant 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 trend to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.

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

Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant 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 should be recognised too.

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