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The weekend heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club rising to the top flight and holding their own 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 leads me to believe they've got a genuine opportunity."
The analyst is providing forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, readers and a range of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is going for glory for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's official esports team – at the football simulation European esports championship finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
You can watch Uefa's YouTube, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.
The most popular scoreline selected for each game is used in the tables at the foot of this page.
Getting the win/draw/loss right (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. The exact score earns 40 points.
Ray, who represents his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualifying.
The final eight competitors will represent their nations at the finals in a single-elimination, competing for a six-figure prize fund and a prestigious spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "There's a really good coach by my side and practice has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you enter this field and there is an chance to represent England, putting the shirt on is something special.
"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 not previously defeated 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 massive injection of confidence."
Premier League Forecasts
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
Chelsea were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and many thought here we go, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So boss Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to return to winning ways, but it is a tough ask because the Toffees are such a dangerous team.
Their key midfielders are playing at the top of their game and they 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 am not going to be sensible.
Chelsea haven't given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a hunch Chelsea will win this match 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'm attending this game and it will be intriguing to see what we get from the Reds.
I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday after 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 selected for this game, but the only way he is going to be reintegrated is if he says sorry.
Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a challenging encounter.
One might suggest 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 a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have taken out of them.
I've selected a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, 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 Wearside club have had the week off while Newcastle had to battle intensely 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, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.
The pattern suggests that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.
We saw how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.
Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding 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 deserves some attention too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
