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This Sunday heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but will it be – the Black Cats or Newcastle?
"For most of last season, it was unthinkable Sunderland earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," remarked football expert Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way Sunderland play convinces me they've got a solid shot."
He is offering forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, readers and a variety of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the eLions – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the gaming title European esports championship finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch 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 chosen for each game is used in the leaderboards at the foot of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. A perfect prediction earns forty points.
Ray, who competes for Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after passing the preliminary stage.
Eight players will fly the flag at the finals in a straight knockout, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I have a really good coach by my side and training has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you go into this field and there is an chance to represent England, putting the shirt on 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 never beaten him in a tournament before.
"In my opinion he is the best player in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just gives you a huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The London club were excellent against the Gunners at the end of November, when they secured a point after going down to 10 men, and many thought they've turned a corner, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.
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 manager Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to restore momentum, but it won't be easy because the Toffees 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.
Based on recent performances you would probably back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.
They have not given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a hunch Chelsea will take this one 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'll be at this game and it will be interesting to see what we get from Liverpool.
I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot shouldn't need to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a icon for Liverpool but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.
Liverpool changed their tactical setup against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.
Everyone is going to be talking about whether Salah is selected for this game, but the only way he is going to be reintegrated is if he makes amends.
Slot's primary concern will be on winning this game, but it is a tough one.
It's fair to say it is the same for most teams but I find Brighton so hard to predict. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are defensively susceptible too.
The Merseysiders need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have drained them.
I put a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will probably lose now - 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
The Black Cats have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.
Aside from their superb performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been poor, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.
It is anticipated that that trend to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's intensity.
It was evident how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.
Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the signings of the season and should be recognised too.
All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture
