🔗 Share this article

Sunday heralds the first Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but which side will celebrate – the Black Cats or the Magpies?

"Throughout the majority of last season, no one would have predicted Sunderland earning promotion and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated football expert Chris Sutton.

"Things are very different now, and the way Sunderland play leads me to believe they've got a solid shot."

Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against AI, fans and a assortment 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 official esports team – at the EA Sports FC Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.

Are you in alignment with their forecasts? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.

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

Getting the win/draw/loss right (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.

Ray, who represents Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the preliminary stage.

The final eight competitors will fly the flag at the finals in a knockout format, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a prestigious 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 said. "I've got a really good coach with me 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 job and there is an opportunity to represent England, wearing the Three Lions is something unique.

"I beat 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 always lost to him in a tournament before.

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

Premier League Predictions

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The Blues were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking they've turned a corner, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.

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

So head coach Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to restore momentum, but it will be a challenge because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.

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

Current evidence suggests you would likely 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 compelling evidence 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'm attending this game and it will be interesting to see what we get from Liverpool.

It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot should not have to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a legend 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 formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.

All the talk 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 makes amends.

Slot's attention 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 defensively susceptible too.

Liverpool need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have drained them.

I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will likely do poorly - 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

Sunderland have had the benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.

Aside from their excellent performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form hasn't been great, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.

I am expecting that trend to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's energetic style.

It was evident how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.

Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant 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 deserves some attention too.

I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture