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Sunday sees the first Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or the Magpies?

"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland earning promotion and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," commented pundit Chris Sutton.

"The situation is very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a genuine opportunity."

The analyst is providing predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, the public and a assortment of guests.

For week 16, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is vying for victory for the eLions – the Football Association's official esports team – at the gaming title Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and England's Twitch.

Are you in alignment with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own predictions below.

The most popular scoreline picked for each game is featured in the scoreboards at the bottom of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. The exact score earns 40 points.

Ray, who represents Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualifying.

Eight players will play for their countries at the finals in a knockout format, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I have a really good coach alongside me and preparation has been going well.

"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Naturally 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 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 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 provides a huge surge of confidence."

Premier League Weekend Preview

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

Chelsea were outstanding against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.

However, since that game, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to get back on track, but it is a tough ask because the Merseyside club are such a potent team.

Two of their stars are playing at the top of their game and Everton have got a bit of momentum at the moment.

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

The Blues have failed to given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a feeling Chelsea will take this one 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 fascinating to see what we get from the Reds.

It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot ought not to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a icon for Liverpool 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 and two up top.

All the talk 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 primary concern 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 quite open too.

The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have taken out of them.

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

The Black Cats have had the week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.

With the exception of 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.

The pattern suggests that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.

It was evident how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.

Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside 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