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The weekend heralds the first Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland earning promotion and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated analyst Chris Sutton.
"The situation is very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe they've got a solid shot."
He is offering forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this season, in competition with AI, readers and a range of guests.
For week 16, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's official esports team – at the gaming title Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and England's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their scores? You can make your own projections below.
The most commonly selected scoreline chosen for each game is displayed on the tables at the foot of this page.
Getting the win/draw/loss right (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns forty 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 successfully navigating the qualifying.
A group of eight will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, vying for a $100,000 prize pool and a coveted spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "I have a really good coach with me and practice 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 professional footballer, but when you pursue a career in this profession and there is an opportunity to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something special.
"I beat 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 best player in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just delivers a crazy boost of confidence."
Premier League Weekend Preview
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 going down to 10 men, and it seemed this is it, they could potentially be title contenders.
However, since that game, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So boss Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to return to winning ways, but it won't be easy because Everton 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 likely back Everton, while the most logical prediction would likely be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.
Chelsea haven't given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct they will win this match 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 am at this game and it will be interesting to see what we get from Liverpool.
It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot shouldn't need to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a icon for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.
They changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.
Everyone 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 attention will be on winning this game, but it is a challenging encounter.
You could argue 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.
Liverpool 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 affected their stamina.
I put a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, so they will probably lose now - 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 opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.
Aside from their superb performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been inconsistent, 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 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 amazing to watch.
Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and deserves some attention too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
