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

"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," commented pundit Chris Sutton.

"The situation is very different now, and the way they play makes me think they've got a genuine opportunity."

Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against artificial intelligence, readers and a variety of guests.

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

Ray is vying for victory for the England's esports team – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the gaming title European esports championship finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel 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 chosen for each game is used in the leaderboards at the foot of this page.

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

Ray, who also plays Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after passing the qualification rounds.

The final eight competitors will represent their nations at the finals in a knockout format, vying for a $100,000 prize pool 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 remarked. "I have a really good coach with me and training 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 real-life footballer, but when you go into this job and there is an opportunity 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 recently just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd always lost to him in a tournament before.

"In my opinion he is the top competitor in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just delivers a massive injection of confidence."

Premier League Weekend Preview

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 got a draw after being reduced to 10 men, and many thought they've turned a corner, they could possibly be title contenders.

Since then, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got defeated by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So manager Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to return to winning ways, but it is a tough ask because Everton are such a potent team.

Their key midfielders are playing at the top of their game and Everton have got a bit of momentum at the moment.

Current evidence suggests 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 good cause to back them recently, but I just have a feeling 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'll be at this game and it will be intriguing to see what we get from Liverpool.

It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot should not have to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a icon 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 formation 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 reintegrated is if he apologises.

Slot's focus 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 unpredictable. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are quite open too.

The Merseysiders need to get back to a consistent run of form, 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 FPL team, so they will probably lose now - but I do fancy them to 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 opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.

With the exception of their superb 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 tiredness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of their rivals' intensity.

We saw how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.

Everyone 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 top transfers and should be recognised too.

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