- Published:
- Comments: 14
This Sunday brings the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"For most of last season, it was unthinkable the Wearside club earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," commented analyst Chris Sutton.
"Things are very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a solid shot."
The analyst is providing forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, fans and a variety of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the eLions – 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, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their forecasts? Feel free to submit your own predictions below.
The most popular scoreline picked for each game is used in the scoreboards at the foot of this page.
A correct result (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. An accurate scoreline earns forty points.
Ray, who represents Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualification rounds.
A group of eight will play for their countries at the finals in a single-elimination, competing for a substantial cash prize and a prestigious spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I've got a really good coach alongside me and training has been going well.
"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you enter this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something special.
"I beat 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 beating 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 London club were excellent against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking this is it, they could potentially be title contenders.
Since then, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to restore momentum, but it won't be easy because the Toffees are such a potent team.
Their key midfielders are playing at the top of their game and they have got a bit of form at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would probably back Everton, while the most logical prediction would likely be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.
They have not given me any good cause 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 fascinating to see what we get from Liverpool.
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 nonsense. I know Salah has been a legend for Liverpool but at its core Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.
Liverpool changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.
The media is going to be talking about whether Salah is selected for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he says sorry.
Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a challenging encounter.
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.
Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have affected their stamina.
I put 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
Sunderland have had the week off while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser 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.
It is anticipated that that trend to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.
It was evident how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.
Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the top transfers and deserves some attention too.
All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture
