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Sunday heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or Newcastle?

"For most of last season, it was unthinkable the Wearside club getting promoted and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," remarked pundit Chris Sutton.

"The situation is very different now, and the way Sunderland play leads me to believe they've got a real chance."

He is offering predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, the public and a range of guests.

For week 16, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is vying for victory for the eLions – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the EA Sports FC European esports championship finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.

Do you agree with their predictions? You can make your own predictions below.

The fan-favourite scoreline selected for each game is displayed on the tables at the end 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 represents Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the preliminary stage.

Eight players will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a substantial cash prize and a prestigious spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "There's a really good coach alongside me and practice has been going well.

"It's always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you go into this field and there is an chance to represent England, wearing the Three Lions 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 not previously defeated him in a tournament before.

"I believe he is the best player in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just delivers a massive injection of confidence."

Premier League Predictions

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

Chelsea were excellent against the Gunners at the end of November, when they got a draw after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.

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

So head coach Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to return to winning ways, but it won't be easy 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 likely be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.

The Blues have failed to given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a feeling Chelsea will take this one 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'm attending this game and it will be intriguing 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 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 the club 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 and two up top.

All the talk is going to be talking about whether Salah is selected for this game, but the only way he is going to be reintegrated is if he makes amends.

Slot's attention 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.

The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their exertions 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 battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.

Aside from their brilliant performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been poor, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.

The pattern suggests that trend to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.

We saw how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was amazing 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 alongside him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and deserves some attention too.

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