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Sunday brings the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland getting promoted and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," commented pundit 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 scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, readers and a assortment of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is going for glory for the eLions – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the football simulation digital Euros finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.
Do you agree with their forecasts? You can make your own guesses below.
The fan-favourite scoreline chosen for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the bottom 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 his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualifying.
The final eight competitors will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, competing for a six-figure prize fund and a highly sought-after 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 am feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "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 enter this field and there is an opportunity to represent England, putting the shirt on is something incredible.
"I overcame Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him throughout the year 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 getting a win over him in a tournament like this just provides a crazy boost of confidence."
Premier League Forecasts
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The London club were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking this is it, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were beaten physically 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 return to winning ways, but it won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.
Their key midfielders are playing at the top of their game and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.
Based on recent performances you would probably back Everton, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.
Chelsea haven't given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a feeling Chelsea will win this match 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 fascinating to see what we get from Liverpool.
I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot shouldn't need 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 formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.
The media 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 apologises.
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 unpredictable. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are vulnerable at the back too.
Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, 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 almost certainly blank - 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 exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.
With the exception of 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.
It is anticipated that that trend to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's energetic style.
We saw how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.
Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been excellent, 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
