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This Sunday brings the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but which side will celebrate – the Black Cats or Newcastle?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," remarked football expert Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe they've got a solid shot."
Sutton is making 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 takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's recognised esports team – at the gaming title Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's YouTube, IG 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? Feel free to submit your own predictions below.
The fan-favourite scoreline picked for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the foot of this page.
A correct result (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. A perfect prediction earns 40 points.
Ray, who represents his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after getting through the preliminary stage.
Eight players will play for their countries at the finals in a single-elimination, competing for a substantial cash prize and a coveted spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "There's a really good coach by my side and practice has been going well.
"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you fantasise about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you go into this profession and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey 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.
"In my opinion he is the number one in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just gives you a massive injection of confidence."
Premier League Forecasts
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The London club were impressive against the Gunners at the end of November, when they got a draw after being reduced to 10 men, and many thought they've turned a corner, they could potentially be title contenders.
In the matches following, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got defeated by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because Everton are such a potent team.
Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
Based on recent performances you would probably back the visitors, while the most logical prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.
They have not given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a hunch they 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 fascinating to see what we get from Liverpool.
It was great to see 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 should not have to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a legend for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.
Liverpool changed their tactical setup against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.
The media 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 focus will be on winning this game, but it is a tough one.
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 defensively susceptible too.
The Merseysiders need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have affected their stamina.
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 Wearside club have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser 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.
The pattern suggests that trend to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of their rivals' intensity.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated 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 phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the top transfers and deserves some attention too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
