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This Sunday heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – the Black Cats or the Magpies?

"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland rising to the top flight and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," commented pundit Chris Sutton.

"The situation is very different now, and the way they play makes me think they've got a genuine opportunity."

The analyst is providing predictions for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with AI, fans and a assortment of guests.

For week 16, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is competing for honours for the eLions – the Football Association's official esports team – at the gaming title European esports championship finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, 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 scores? You can make your own projections below.

The fan-favourite scoreline chosen for each game is featured in the tables at the foot of this page.

Getting the win/draw/loss right (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. The exact score earns 40 points.

Ray, who competes for his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualifying.

Eight players will play for their countries at the finals in a straight knockout, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I have a really good coach with me and preparation has been going well.

"It's always an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you go into this profession and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something unique.

"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 top competitor in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just delivers 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 the Gunners 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 outfought by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So boss Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because the Merseyside club are such a threatening team.

Their key midfielders are playing really well and they have got a bit of form at the moment.

Based on recent performances you would likely back the visitors, while the most prudent prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

Chelsea haven't given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct Chelsea 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 interesting to see what we get from Liverpool.

I was delighted 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 should not have to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a legend for the club but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.

They changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top.

All the talk is going to be talking about whether Salah is included for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he apologises.

Slot's primary concern will be on winning this game, but it is a challenging encounter.

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 vulnerable at the back too.

Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, 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 likely do poorly - 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 week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.

Apart from 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.

It is anticipated that that tendency 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 intensity.

It was evident 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 outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the signings of the season and should be recognised too.

All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture