- Published:
- Comments: 14
Sunday brings the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland getting promoted and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," remarked pundit Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a real chance."
The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, readers and a range of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's recognised 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, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their scores? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.
The most popular scoreline chosen for each game is displayed on the tables at the bottom of this page.
Getting the win/draw/loss right (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns forty points.
Ray, who competes for his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualification rounds.
Eight players will represent their nations at the finals in a knockout format, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a highly sought-after spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I've got a really good coach with me and practice has been going well.
"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an professional footballer, but when you go into this field and there is an opportunity to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something special.
"I defeated Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him recently just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd not previously defeated him in a tournament before.
"I believe he is the top competitor in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just delivers a massive injection of confidence."
Premier League Weekend Preview
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
Chelsea were excellent against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and it seemed they've turned a corner, they could possibly be title contenders.
However, since that game, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to restore momentum, but it will be a challenge because the Toffees are such a dangerous team.
Two of their stars are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.
Based on recent performances you would probably back Everton, while the most sensible prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.
Chelsea haven't given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct they will emerge victorious 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'm attending this game and it will be intriguing 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 nonsense. I know Salah has been a great for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.
Liverpool 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 included 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 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.
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've selected a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, so they will likely do poorly - 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
Sunderland have had the week off 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 hasn't been great, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.
It is anticipated that that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's intensity.
We saw how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.
Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been excellent, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with him, has also been one of the signings of the season and deserves some attention too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
