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This Sunday sees the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but will it be – the Black Cats or the Magpies?

"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland rising to the top flight and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated pundit Chris Sutton.

"Things are very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe they've got a real chance."

Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with AI, fans and a range 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 recognised esports team – at the EA Sports FC European esports championship finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

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

What are your thoughts with their scores? You can make your own projections below.

The fan-favourite scoreline picked for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the end of this page.

A correct result (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

Ray, who competes for his club side and Manchester City 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 straight knockout, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the world finals play-offs, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"My mindset is really good for it," Ray said. "I've got a really good coach by my side and preparation has been going well.

"It's always an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you go into this field and there is an opportunity to represent England, putting the shirt on is something unique.

"I beat Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him throughout the year just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd always lost to him in a tournament before.

"For me he is the best player in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just gives you a huge surge of confidence."

Premier League Forecasts

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

Chelsea were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could potentially be title contenders.

Since then, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So boss Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to restore momentum, but it will be a challenge because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.

Their key midfielders are playing really well and they have got a bit of a positive run 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 am not going to be sensible.

They have not given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a feeling Chelsea 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'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 crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot should not have to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a icon for the club but at its core Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.

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

All the talk is going to be talking about whether Salah is back for this game, but the only way he is going to be reintegrated is if he says sorry.

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 hard to predict. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are quite open too.

Liverpool need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have taken out of 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

Sunderland have had the benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to exert themselves 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 hasn't been great, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.

I am expecting that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of their rivals' high press.

We saw how relentless 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 brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the top transfers and should be recognised too.

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