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Sunday brings the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," commented analyst Chris Sutton.
"The situation is very different now, and the way Sunderland play leads me to believe they've got a solid shot."
He is offering scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, against artificial intelligence, readers and a variety of guests.
For the upcoming matchday, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is going for glory for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's official esports team – at the gaming title digital Euros finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their scores? You can make your own projections below.
The most commonly selected scoreline chosen for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the foot of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.
Ray, who also plays Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after passing the preliminary stage.
Eight players will represent their nations at the finals in a knockout format, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a highly sought-after spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I have a really good coach with me and training has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you fantasise about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you enter this job and there is an chance 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 recently just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd not previously defeated him in a tournament before.
"I believe he is the top competitor in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just gives you a massive injection of confidence."
Premier League Weekend Preview
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
Chelsea were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and many thought here we go, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.
In the matches following, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked uninspired 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 return to winning ways, but it will be a challenge because Everton are such a threatening team.
Two of their stars are playing at the top of their game and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would probably back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would probably 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 gut instinct they will emerge victorious 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 intriguing to see what we get from Liverpool.
I am really pleased for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result 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.
Liverpool changed their formation 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 reintegrated is if he makes amends.
Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.
It's fair to say 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.
The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have drained them.
I put a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, 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 concede a late equaliser late on.
Apart 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.
It is anticipated that that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's intensity.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated 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 top transfers and should be recognised too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
