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Sunday sees the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but which side will celebrate – Sunderland or the Magpies?
"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," stated analyst Chris Sutton.
"Things are very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe they've got a real chance."
He is offering predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, the public and a assortment of guests.
For week 16, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the England's esports team – the Football Association's official esports team – at the gaming title European esports championship finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their forecasts? Share your own predictions below.
The most commonly selected scoreline selected for each game is used in the tables at the end of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns 40 points.
Ray, who represents his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after passing the preliminary stage.
A group of eight will play for their countries at the finals in a straight knockout, vying for a six-figure prize fund and a highly sought-after spot in the world finals play-offs, 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 by my side and practice has been going well.
"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an professional footballer, but when you pursue a career in this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey 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 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 huge surge of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The Blues were outstanding against Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after being reduced to 10 men, and many thought here we go, they could possibly 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 manager Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because the Toffees are such a dangerous team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.
Based on recent performances you would probably back the visitors, while the most logical prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.
Chelsea haven't given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a feeling 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.
It was great to see 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 drama. I know Salah has been a icon for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal in his team selection.
They changed their shape against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.
All the talk 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 apologises.
Slot's attention will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.
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 defensively susceptible too.
The Merseysiders need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have taken out of them.
I've selected a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, 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 Wearside club have had the week off while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.
Aside from their brilliant 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 tiredness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press.
We saw how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was a joy 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 next to him, has also been one of the top transfers and should be recognised too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
