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Sunday brings the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," commented analyst Chris Sutton.
"Things are 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, readers and a assortment of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he faces off against 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 EA Sports FC digital Euros finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their scores? You can make your own projections below.
The most popular scoreline picked for each game is featured in the tables at the bottom of this page.
A correct result (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. The exact score 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 getting through the qualification rounds.
The final eight competitors will represent their nations at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious 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 stated. "I've got a really good coach alongside me and practice has been going well.
"It is invariably 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 enter this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, putting the shirt on is something incredible.
"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 always lost to him in a tournament before.
"For me he is the number one in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just gives you a huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The London club were outstanding against Arsenal at the end of November, when they got a draw after going down to 10 men, and it seemed this is it, they could potentially be title contenders.
Since then, however, they were beaten physically 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 won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a threatening team.
Their key midfielders are playing really well and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
On form you would likely back the visitors, while the most logical prediction would likely be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.
Chelsea haven't given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct Chelsea 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'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 controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot ought not to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a great for Liverpool but at its core 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.
Everyone is going to be talking about whether Salah is selected 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 unpredictable. 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 energy spent at the San Siro will have drained them.
I've selected a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, so they will almost certainly blank - but I do fancy them to 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 work so hard 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 has been inconsistent, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.
I am expecting that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's energetic style.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how relentless 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 excellent, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and deserves some attention too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
