🔗 Share this article

This Sunday heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – the Black Cats or the Magpies?

"During the bulk of last season, no one would have predicted Sunderland rising to the top flight and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," commented football expert Chris Sutton.

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

He is offering scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, in competition with artificial intelligence, the public and a assortment 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 EA Sports FC European esports championship 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 the national team's Twitch.

What are your thoughts with their forecasts? Share your own predictions below.

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

Predicting the right outcome (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. The exact score earns 40 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 preliminary stage.

The final eight competitors will play for their countries at the finals in a knockout format, competing for a six-figure prize fund and a coveted spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray said. "There's 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 fantasise about doing it as an professional footballer, but when you go into this job and there is an opportunity 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 recently just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd never beaten him in a tournament before.

"I believe he is the best player in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just delivers a huge surge of confidence."

Premier League Forecasts

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The London club were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they got a draw after going down to 10 men, and many thought this is it, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.

However, since that game, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to return to winning ways, but it won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a threatening team.

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

On form you would likely back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.

They have not given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a feeling Chelsea will take this one 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 am at this game and it will be intriguing to see what we get from the Reds.

I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the discussion 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 essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.

Liverpool changed their formation 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 brought back into the fold is if he apologises.

Slot's focus 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 quite open too.

The Merseysiders need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their exertions at the San Siro will have drained them.

I put a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, 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 Wearside club have had the week off while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.

Aside from their superb 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 tendency to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.

We saw how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.

Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the signings of the season and deserves some attention too.

This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture