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The weekend brings the first Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but which side will celebrate – the Black Cats or Newcastle?

"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland getting promoted and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," stated analyst Chris Sutton.

"The situation is very different now, and the way Sunderland play leads me to believe they've got a solid shot."

The analyst is providing predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against artificial intelligence, fans and a range of guests.

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

Ray is competing for honours for the eLions – the Football Association's official esports team – at the gaming title digital Euros finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.

What are your thoughts with their forecasts? You can make your own predictions below.

The most popular scoreline chosen for each game is used in the scoreboards at the end of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

Ray, who competes for Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after passing the qualifying.

Eight players will represent their nations at the finals in a single-elimination, vying for a substantial cash prize and a coveted 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. "There's a really good coach with 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 dream about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you pursue a career in this field and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something incredible.

"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 not previously defeated 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 provides a huge surge of confidence."

Premier League Forecasts

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

Chelsea were impressive against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.

In the matches following, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So boss Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because the Merseyside club are such a potent team.

Their key midfielders are playing exceptionally and they have got a bit of momentum at the moment.

On form you would likely back Everton, while the most logical prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

The Blues have failed to given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct Chelsea will emerge victorious 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'll be at 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 important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot should not have to put up with that drama. 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 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 included for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he says sorry.

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 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 a consistent run of form, 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 likely do poorly - 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 battle intensely 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.

I am expecting that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a key element 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 a joy 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 should be recognised too.

This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture