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Sunday heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but will it be – the Black Cats or the Magpies?
"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland rising to the top flight and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," stated pundit Chris Sutton.
"The situation is very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe they've got a genuine opportunity."
Sutton is making scoreline guesses 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 competing for honours for the England's esports team – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the EA Sports FC Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
You can watch Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their forecasts? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.
The fan-favourite scoreline picked for each game is displayed on the tables at the end of this page.
A correct result (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.
Ray, who also plays Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualifying.
The final eight competitors will fly the flag at the finals in a knockout format, vying for a substantial cash prize and a prestigious spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"My mindset is really good for it," Ray said. "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. Naturally when you are younger, you fantasise about doing it as an professional footballer, but when you pursue a career in this field and there is an chance to represent England, donning the national jersey is something unique.
"I beat 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 never beaten him in a tournament before.
"I believe he is the number one 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
Chelsea were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after being reduced to 10 men, and many thought here we go, they could potentially be title contenders.
In the matches following, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got defeated by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So boss Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to restore momentum, but it won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a potent team.
Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would likely back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.
Chelsea haven't given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct they 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 am at this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from Liverpool.
It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot shouldn't need to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a legend 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 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 brought back into the fold is if he apologises.
Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a challenging encounter.
It's fair to say 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 efforts 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 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
The Black Cats have had the benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.
Aside 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 fatigue is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was amazing 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 in midfield with him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and should be recognised too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
