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Sunday heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?

"Throughout the majority of last season, no one would have predicted the Wearside club earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," remarked pundit Chris Sutton.

"Things are very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a genuine opportunity."

Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, the public and a range of guests.

For the upcoming matchday, he takes on 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 gaming title digital Euros finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.

What are your thoughts with their forecasts? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.

The most commonly selected scoreline selected for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the end of this page.

A correct result (choosing 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 making his debut at the eEuros finals after passing the qualifying.

A group of eight will play for their countries at the finals in a straight knockout, vying for a substantial cash prize and a highly sought-after spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative 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 by my side and training has been going well.

"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you fantasise about doing it as an professional footballer, but when you go into this job and there is an chance to represent England, donning the national jersey is something unique.

"I overcame 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.

"For me he is the number one in the world so defeating 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 Blues were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they got a draw after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.

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

So manager Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because Everton are such a threatening team.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing really well and Everton have got a bit of momentum at the moment.

On form you would probably back Everton, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

The Blues have failed to given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct 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 am at this game and it will be interesting to see what we get from Liverpool.

I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot ought not 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 ulterior motive in his team selection.

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

The media 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 makes amends.

Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.

It's fair to say it is the same for most teams but I find Brighton so mercurial. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are quite open too.

The Merseysiders need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have affected their stamina.

I put a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, 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

The Wearside club have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to work so hard 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 poor, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.

I am expecting that tendency 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 intensity.

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 alongside him, has also been one of the top transfers and warrants praise too.

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