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The weekend sees the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – the Black Cats or the Magpies?

"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club getting promoted and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," remarked analyst Chris Sutton.

"Things are 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 season, against artificial intelligence, fans 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 eLions – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the football simulation digital Euros finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

You can watch Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.

Are you in alignment with their predictions? Share your own guesses below.

The fan-favourite scoreline picked for each game is used in the tables at the foot of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns 40 points.

Ray, who also plays Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the preliminary stage.

A group of eight will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a six-figure prize fund and a highly sought-after spot in the world finals play-offs, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "I've got a really good coach alongside me and training has been going well.

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

"I defeated 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 never beaten him in a tournament before.

"For me he is the best player in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just delivers a huge surge 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 got a draw after being reduced to 10 men, and it seemed here we go, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.

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

So head coach Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to restore momentum, but it will be a challenge because the Merseyside club are such a potent team.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.

Current evidence suggests you would probably back Everton, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.

They have not given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a hunch they will emerge victorious 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'm attending this game and it will be interesting to see what we get from the Reds.

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 nonsense. I know Salah has been a legend for the club but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.

They changed their tactical setup against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top.

All the talk 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 primary concern will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.

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.

Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have taken out of them.

I put a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, 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 Wearside club have had the week off while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.

Aside from their superb performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been poor, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.

It is anticipated that that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.

Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.

Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and deserves some attention too.

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