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Sunday heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or the Magpies?
"For most of last season, no one would have predicted the Wearside club earning promotion and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," remarked analyst Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way Sunderland play leads me to believe they've got a solid shot."
Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, fans and a assortment of guests.
For week 16, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is going for glory for the England's esports team – the Football Association's official esports team – at the EA Sports FC 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 EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and England's Twitch.
Do you agree with their predictions? Share your own predictions below.
The most popular scoreline selected for each game is displayed on the scoreboards at the end of this page.
Getting the win/draw/loss right (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 making his debut at the eEuros finals after passing the qualification rounds.
Eight players will fly the flag at the finals in a straight knockout, playing for a six-figure prize fund and a highly sought-after spot in the global championship qualifiers, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I have a really good coach alongside me and practice has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you enter this profession and there is an opportunity to represent England, wearing the Three Lions 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.
"In my opinion he is the best player in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just gives you a crazy boost of confidence."
Premier League Forecasts
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The London club were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they got a draw after going down to 10 men, and it seemed they've turned a corner, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So boss Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to return to winning ways, but it will be a challenge because the Merseyside club are such a threatening team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing at the top of their game and they have got a bit of momentum at the moment.
On form you would likely back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.
The Blues have failed to given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct Chelsea 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'm attending this game and it will be interesting to see what we get from the Reds.
It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result 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 essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.
Liverpool changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.
Everyone is going to be talking about whether Salah is back for this game, but the only way he is going to be reintegrated is if he makes amends.
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 efforts at the San Siro will have drained them.
I've selected a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, 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 Black Cats have had the week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.
Aside from their brilliant 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 pattern 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 energetic style.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.
Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with him, has also been one of the signings of the season and deserves some attention too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
