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This Sunday heralds the first Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?

"Throughout the majority of last season, it was unthinkable the Wearside club rising to the top flight and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated pundit Chris Sutton.

"Things are very different now, and the way Sunderland play convinces me they've got a solid shot."

The analyst is providing forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, fans and a variety of guests.

For the upcoming matchday, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is going for glory for the eLions – the Football Association's recognised esports team – at the EA Sports FC European esports championship finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.

Are you in alignment with their forecasts? Feel free to submit your own predictions below.

The most commonly selected scoreline chosen for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the end of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 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 getting through the preliminary stage.

Eight players will play for their countries at the finals in a knockout format, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a coveted spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray said. "There's a really good coach alongside me and practice has been going well.

"It's always an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you fantasise about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you go into this field and there is an chance to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something incredible.

"I defeated 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 defeating him in a tournament like this just gives you a crazy boost of confidence."

Premier League Forecasts

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The Blues were excellent against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and it seemed here we go, they could potentially be title contenders.

Since then, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So manager Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to return to winning ways, but it won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing really well and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.

Based on recent performances you would likely back the visitors, while the most prudent prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

Chelsea haven't given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a hunch Chelsea will take this one because they are at home and they are overdue a victory.

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 crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.

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

They changed their shape 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 back for this game, but the only way he is going to be reintegrated is if he makes amends.

Slot's attention 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 quite open too.

The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their exertions 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 likely do poorly - but I do think they can 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 benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.

Aside from their brilliant performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form hasn't been great, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.

The pattern suggests that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.

We saw how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.

Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and should be recognised too.

I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture