🔗 Share this article

Sunday sees the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?

"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," remarked pundit Chris Sutton.

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

Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against AI, readers and a variety 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 formal esports team – at the football simulation digital Euros finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

You can watch Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.

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

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

Getting the win/draw/loss right (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

Ray, who represents Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualification rounds.

The final eight competitors will play for their countries at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a six-figure prize fund and a highly sought-after spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

"My mindset is really good for it," Ray remarked. "I have a really good coach alongside me and preparation has been going well.

"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an professional footballer, but when you go into this field and there is an opportunity to represent England, putting the shirt on is something special.

"I defeated 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 never beaten him in a tournament before.

"I believe he is the top competitor in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just gives you a massive injection of confidence."

Premier League Weekend Preview

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 they've turned a corner, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.

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

So manager Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to restore momentum, but it will be a challenge because Everton are such a dangerous team.

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

Current evidence suggests you would probably back Everton, while the most logical prediction would probably be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.

Chelsea haven't given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct 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 intriguing to see what we get from the Reds.

I am really pleased for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot shouldn't need 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 tactical setup 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 focus will be on winning this game, but it is a challenging encounter.

It's fair to say 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.

The Merseysiders need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their exertions 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 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

The Black Cats have had the benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.

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

I am expecting 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.

Their match against Arsenal demonstrated 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 phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been excellent, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and warrants praise too.

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