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

"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland earning promotion and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," commented football expert Chris Sutton.

"The situation is very different now, and the way Sunderland play convinces me they've got a solid shot."

The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, against artificial intelligence, readers and a range of guests.

For week 16, he takes on 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 football simulation Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and England's Twitch.

Are you in alignment with their predictions? You can make your own projections below.

The most popular scoreline chosen for each game is displayed on the tables at the foot of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.

Ray, who competes for Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after passing the preliminary stage.

Eight players will play for their countries at the finals in a straight knockout, playing for a substantial cash prize and a coveted spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

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

"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you fantasise about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you go into this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something incredible.

"I defeated Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him over the course of the season just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd not previously defeated 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 massive injection of confidence."

Premier League Predictions

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

Chelsea were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they got a draw after being reduced to 10 men, and many thought they've turned a corner, they could potentially be title contenders.

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

So boss Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to return to winning ways, but it is a tough ask because Everton are such a dangerous team.

Two of their stars are playing really well and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.

Current evidence suggests you would likely back the visitors, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

They have not given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a hunch they will emerge victorious 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 am at this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from the Reds.

It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the controversy 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.

Liverpool 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 included for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he apologises.

Slot's attention will be on winning this game, but it is a challenging encounter.

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.

Liverpool need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their exertions at the San Siro will have affected their stamina.

I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will probably lose now - 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

The Black Cats have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.

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

I am expecting that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's energetic style.

Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.

Everyone 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 signings of the season and warrants praise too.

I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture