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Sunday sees the first Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland rising to the top flight and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," remarked pundit Chris Sutton.
"Things are very different now, and the way they play makes me think they've got a real chance."
The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, in competition with artificial intelligence, readers and a variety of guests.
For week 16, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the eLions – the Football Association's official esports team – at the football simulation Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
Do you agree with their forecasts? You can make your own guesses below.
The most commonly selected scoreline picked for each game is featured in the tables at the bottom of this page.
A correct result (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. A perfect prediction earns forty points.
Ray, who competes for Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualifying.
A group of eight will represent their nations at the finals in a knockout format, vying for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I have a really good coach by my side and practice 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 pursue a career in this field and there is an chance to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something special.
"I overcame Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him throughout the year just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd not previously defeated him in a tournament before.
"In my opinion he is the number one in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just delivers a huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
Chelsea were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they got a draw after being reduced to 10 men, and it seemed they've turned a corner, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So manager Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to restore momentum, but it will be a challenge because Everton are such a dangerous team.
Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.
On form you would probably back Everton, while the most logical prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.
Chelsea haven't given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a hunch they will win this match because they are at home and they are overdue a victory.
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 following all the stuff 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 formation 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 brought back into the fold is if he says sorry.
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 defensively susceptible too.
Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their exertions at the San Siro will have affected their stamina.
I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will almost certainly blank - but I do think they can 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 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 excellent 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 trend to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.
It was evident how incessant 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 outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the signings of the season and warrants praise too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
