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The weekend sees the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?

"During the bulk of last season, it was unthinkable the Wearside club earning promotion and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone 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 genuine opportunity."

The analyst is providing predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, in competition with artificial intelligence, readers and a variety 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 official esports team – at the EA Sports FC digital Euros finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The action will be streamed on Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.

Do you agree with their forecasts? You can make your own predictions below.

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

Getting the win/draw/loss right (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. A perfect prediction earns forty points.

Ray, who represents Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualifying.

Eight players will represent their nations at the finals in a straight knockout, playing for a six-figure prize fund and a coveted spot in the global championship qualifiers, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

"My mindset is really good for it," Ray said. "There's a really good coach alongside me 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 pursue a career in this field and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something special.

"I defeated Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him recently just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd not previously defeated him in a tournament before.

"For me he is the number one in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just gives you a massive injection of confidence."

Premier League Weekend Preview

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 earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking they've turned a corner, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.

In the matches following, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked uninspired 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 is a tough ask because the Toffees are such a threatening team.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing at the top of their game and Everton have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.

Current evidence suggests you would probably back the visitors, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.

Chelsea haven't given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a feeling Chelsea will emerge victorious 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 after all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot should not have to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a great for the club but at its core Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.

They changed their shape against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top.

Everyone 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 says sorry.

Slot's primary concern will be on winning this game, but it is a tough one.

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 quite open 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've selected a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, 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

The Black Cats have had the benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.

Apart from 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.

It is anticipated that that trend to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's energetic style.

It was evident how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.

Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and deserves some attention too.

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