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The weekend heralds the first Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – the Black Cats or Newcastle?

"For most of last season, no one would have predicted Sunderland rising to the top flight and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," stated football expert Chris Sutton.

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

Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with AI, fans 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 England's esports team – the Football Association's recognised esports team – at the football simulation Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The action will be streamed on Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and TikTok 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? Share your own predictions below.

The fan-favourite scoreline chosen for each game is featured in the leaderboards at the foot of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.

Ray, who also plays his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualification rounds.

The final eight competitors will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, 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 looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I have a really good coach with me and practice has been going well.

"It's always an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an professional footballer, but when you enter this field and there is an chance to represent England, putting the shirt on is something special.

"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 always lost to him in a tournament before.

"For me he is the top competitor in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just delivers a huge surge of confidence."

Premier League Predictions

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The Blues were impressive against the Gunners at the end of November, when they secured a point after going down to 10 men, and it seemed this is it, they could potentially be title contenders.

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

So head coach Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to get back on track, 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.

On form you would probably back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would likely be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.

They have not given me any real reason 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 fascinating to see what we get from Liverpool.

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 shouldn't need to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a icon for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.

Liverpool changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond 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 reintegrated is if he says sorry.

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

It's fair to say it is the same for most teams but I find Brighton so mercurial. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are defensively susceptible 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 FPL team, so they will almost certainly blank - 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

Sunderland have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.

Apart from 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.

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

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 brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been excellent, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and should be recognised too.

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