🔗 Share this article

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

"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland getting promoted and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," remarked analyst Chris Sutton.

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

The analyst is providing forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, readers and a variety of guests.

For this weekend's fixtures, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is vying for victory for the eLions – the Football Association's official esports team – at the EA Sports FC Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

You can watch Uefa's video platform, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and England's Twitch.

Do you agree with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.

The most popular scoreline picked for each game is featured in the tables at the bottom of this page.

A correct result (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction 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 successfully navigating the qualification rounds.

Eight players will represent their nations at the finals in a straight knockout, vying for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "There's a really good coach by my side and training has been going well.

"It's always 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 profession 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 over the course of the season just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd never beaten him in a tournament before.

"In my opinion he is the number one in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just provides a massive injection of confidence."

Premier League Weekend Preview

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The Blues were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after going down to 10 men, and it seemed here we go, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.

Since then, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got defeated by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to get back on track, but it is a tough ask because the Toffees are such a dangerous team.

Their key midfielders are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.

Current evidence suggests you would probably back Everton, while the most logical prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.

They have not given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct Chelsea 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 am at this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from Liverpool.

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 shouldn't need to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a legend 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.

The media is going to be talking about whether Salah is selected for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he apologises.

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 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 stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have taken out of them.

I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, 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

The Wearside club have had the week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves 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 inconsistent, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.

The pattern suggests that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's intensity.

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

Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding 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 should be recognised too.

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