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This Sunday heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – the Black Cats or the Magpies?
"For most of last season, it was unthinkable Sunderland getting promoted and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," remarked football expert Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a real chance."
Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against artificial intelligence, the public and a range of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he is challenged by 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 football simulation European esports championship finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and England's Twitch.
Do you agree with their scores? You can make your own projections below.
The most popular scoreline selected for each game is used in the scoreboards at the bottom of this page.
Getting the win/draw/loss right (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. An accurate scoreline earns forty 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 successfully navigating the qualifying.
A group of eight will play for their countries at the finals in a straight knockout, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a highly sought-after spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I have a really good coach alongside me and training has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you fantasise about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you pursue a career in this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something incredible.
"I beat 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 never beaten him in a tournament before.
"I believe he is the top competitor in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just delivers a crazy boost of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
Chelsea were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they secured a point after being reduced to 10 men, and many thought here we go, they could possibly be title contenders.
In the matches following, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to return to winning ways, but it is a tough ask because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.
Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
On form you would probably back the visitors, 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 they will take this one 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 intriguing to see what we get from Liverpool.
It was great to see 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 ought not to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a icon for the club but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.
They changed their shape 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 brought back into the fold is if he apologises.
Slot's primary concern 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 hard to predict. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are defensively susceptible 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 drained them.
I've selected a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, 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 opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to battle intensely 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 has been poor, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.
I am expecting that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.
We saw how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.
Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and warrants praise too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
