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Sunday brings the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but which side will celebrate – the Black Cats or Newcastle?
"For most of last season, no one would have predicted Sunderland earning promotion and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated analyst Chris Sutton.
"The situation is very different now, and the way Sunderland play leads me to believe they've got a real chance."
The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, in competition with AI, the public and a assortment of guests.
For week 16, he takes on 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 YouTube, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own projections below.
The most popular scoreline selected for each game is used in the leaderboards at the bottom of this page.
A correct result (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns forty points.
Ray, who also plays Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualification rounds.
Eight players will represent their nations at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a six-figure prize fund and a prestigious spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray said. "There's a really good coach alongside me and training has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you pursue a career in this field and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something incredible.
"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 top competitor in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just delivers a huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Weekend Preview
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The Blues were excellent against the Gunners at the end of November, when they secured a point after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to restore momentum, but it is a tough ask because the Merseyside club are such a potent team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing at the top of their game and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.
On form you would probably back the visitors, while the most prudent prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm going against logic.
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 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 interesting to see what we get from Liverpool.
It was great to see 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 ought not to put up with that drama. 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.
They changed their shape against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation 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 says sorry.
Slot's primary concern will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.
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 defensively susceptible too.
The Merseysiders need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have affected their stamina.
I put a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, 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
Sunderland have had the benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.
Apart from their superb 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.
I am expecting that trend to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.
Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and deserves some attention too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
