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The weekend heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or the Magpies?
"During the bulk of last season, it was unthinkable Sunderland rising to the top flight and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated football expert Chris Sutton.
"The situation is very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe they've got a solid shot."
The analyst is providing predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, in competition with artificial intelligence, readers and a range of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is vying for victory for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's official esports team – at the football simulation digital Euros finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
Do you agree with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.
The most commonly selected scoreline selected for each game is featured in the leaderboards at the end of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.
Ray, who represents his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after getting through the preliminary stage.
The final eight competitors will play for their countries at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"My mindset is really good for it," Ray remarked. "There's a really good coach with me and preparation has been going well.
"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you enter this job and there is an chance to represent England, putting the shirt on is something incredible.
"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 never beaten him in a tournament before.
"In my opinion he is the best player in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just gives you a huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Forecasts
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The London club were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking they've turned a corner, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to return to winning ways, but it is a tough ask because Everton are such a potent team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing exceptionally and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would probably back Everton, while the most logical prediction would likely 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 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 intriguing 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 after all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot should not have to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a legend for the club but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.
They changed their shape 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 selected for this game, but the only way he is going to be reintegrated is if he says sorry.
Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a tough one.
One might suggest 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 quite open too.
Liverpool need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have affected their stamina.
I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, 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
The Wearside club have had the week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.
Apart from their brilliant performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form hasn't been great, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.
It is anticipated that that trend to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of Sunderland's intensity.
We saw how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.
Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the signings of the season and deserves some attention too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
