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This Sunday brings the first Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or the Magpies?

"For most of last season, it was unthinkable the Wearside club rising to the top flight and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," remarked analyst Chris Sutton.

"Things are very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a genuine opportunity."

He is offering predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against artificial intelligence, readers and a variety of guests.

For this weekend's fixtures, he is challenged by 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 digital Euros finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.

Do you agree with their scores? Share your own predictions below.

The fan-favourite scoreline selected for each game is used in the leaderboards at the foot of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.

Ray, who competes for Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after passing the preliminary stage.

A group of eight will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a highly sought-after spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I've got a really good coach alongside me 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 go into this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something incredible.

"I defeated 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 not previously defeated 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 huge surge of confidence."

Premier League Predictions

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The Blues were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced to 10 men, and it seemed this is it, they could possibly be title contenders.

In the matches following, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So boss Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to return to winning ways, but it is a tough ask because Everton are such a threatening team.

Two of their stars are playing at the top of their game 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 am not going to be sensible.

They have not given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct 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 the Reds.

I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot should not have to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a great 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 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 difficult fixture.

It's fair to say it is the same for most teams but I find Brighton so mercurial. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are quite open 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 FPL team, so they will almost certainly blank - 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 week off while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.

With the exception of their excellent performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form hasn't been great, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.

The pattern suggests that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.

We saw how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.

Many pundits 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 top transfers and should be recognised too.

This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture