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This Sunday heralds the first Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or the Magpies?
"For most of last season, no one would have predicted the Wearside club rising to the top flight and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated analyst Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way Sunderland play makes me think they've got a genuine opportunity."
He is offering scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, in competition with AI, the public 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 national gaming squad – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the EA Sports FC European esports championship finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's YouTube, Instagram 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 forecasts? You can make your own guesses below.
The fan-favourite scoreline picked for each game is used in the leaderboards at the bottom of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. A perfect prediction earns forty points.
Ray, who competes for his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualifying.
The final eight competitors will represent their nations at the finals in a knockout format, playing for a substantial cash prize and a coveted spot in the global championship qualifiers, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "There's a really good coach with me and practice has been going well.
"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an actual footballer, but when you enter this profession and there is an opportunity 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 recently just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd always lost to him in a tournament before.
"In my opinion he is the best player in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just provides a massive injection of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The Blues were outstanding against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
However, since that game, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got defeated by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So manager Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to restore momentum, but it won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would likely back Everton, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.
They have not given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct they 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'll be at this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from Liverpool.
I am really pleased for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot ought not to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a great for the club but at its core Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.
They changed their tactical setup against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation 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 brought back into the fold is if he makes amends.
Slot's attention will be on winning this game, but it is a tough one.
One might suggest 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 quite open too.
Liverpool need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have taken out of them.
I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will probably lose now - 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 Wearside club have had the benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.
With the exception of their superb 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.
The pattern suggests that trend to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.
It was evident how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.
Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal 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.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
