- Published:
- Comments: 14
This Sunday sees the first Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – the Black Cats or the Magpies?
"During the bulk of last season, it was unthinkable the Wearside club rising to the top flight and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," remarked football expert Chris Sutton.
"The situation is very different now, and the way Sunderland play leads me to believe they've got a real chance."
Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, 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 going for glory for the England's esports team – the Football Association's official esports team – at the EA Sports FC digital Euros finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their scores? You can make your own projections below.
The most commonly selected scoreline chosen for each game is used in the leaderboards at the foot of this page.
A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns forty points.
Ray, who competes for his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after passing the qualifying.
A group of eight will play for their countries at the finals in a single-elimination, vying for a six-figure prize fund and a coveted spot in the global championship qualifiers, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending 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 training has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you go into this profession and there is an chance to represent England, putting the shirt on 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 top competitor in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just gives you a crazy boost of confidence."
Premier League Weekend Preview
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The Blues were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they got a draw after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking they've turned a corner, they could potentially be title contenders.
Since then, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to return to winning ways, but it won't be easy because Everton are such a potent team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing really well and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
On form you would probably back the visitors, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.
Chelsea haven't given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a hunch they 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'll be at this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from the Reds.
It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot ought not to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a icon for the club but at its core Slot just wants to win games and there is nothing personal 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 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 difficult fixture.
You could argue 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 vulnerable at the back too.
The Merseysiders need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have drained them.
I put a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, 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 opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.
Apart from their excellent performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been poor, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League.
It is anticipated that that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of their rivals' high press.
We saw how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.
Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and warrants praise too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
