- Published:
- Comments: 14
Sunday sees the first Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – the Black Cats or the Magpies?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland getting promoted and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," remarked football expert Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way they play makes me think they've got a solid shot."
Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against artificial intelligence, fans and a variety of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the England's esports team – the Football Association's recognised esports team – at the gaming title Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their forecasts? You can make your own guesses below.
The fan-favourite scoreline picked for each game is featured in the leaderboards at the bottom of this page.
Getting the win/draw/loss right (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns forty points.
Ray, who represents his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualifying.
Eight players will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, vying for a six-figure prize fund and a prestigious spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"My mindset is really good for it," Ray remarked. "There's a really good coach by my side and practice 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 enter this job and there is an chance to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something incredible.
"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.
"In my opinion he is the top competitor in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just gives you a huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Weekend Preview
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
Chelsea were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after being reduced to 10 men, and it seemed here we go, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked uninspired 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.
Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
On form you would likely back Everton, while the most sensible prediction would likely be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.
Chelsea haven't 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 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 fascinating 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 discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot should not have to put up with that nonsense. 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 formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top.
Everyone 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 attention will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.
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 vulnerable at the back too.
The Merseysiders 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 Fantasy Premier League side, so they will probably lose now - 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
The Wearside club 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.
With the exception of 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 tendency to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of their rivals' intensity.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible 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 alongside him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and should be recognised too.
All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture
