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Sunday sees the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or the Magpies?
"Throughout the majority of last season, it was unthinkable the Wearside club getting promoted and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," stated football expert Chris Sutton.
"The situation is very different now, and the way Sunderland play convinces me they've got a solid shot."
The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, against AI, readers and a assortment of guests.
For week 16, he takes on 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 EA Sports FC digital Euros finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
You can watch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their scores? You can make your own guesses below.
The fan-favourite scoreline chosen for each game is displayed on the leaderboards at the bottom of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.
Ray, who represents his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after getting through the preliminary stage.
Eight players 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 global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"My mindset is really good for it," Ray said. "I have 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 actual footballer, but when you go into this profession 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 never beaten him in a tournament before.
"For me 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 impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could possibly be title contenders.
In the matches following, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So manager Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to return to winning ways, but it will be a challenge because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.
Their key midfielders are playing really well and Everton have got a bit of momentum at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would probably back Everton, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm going against logic.
The Blues have failed to given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct Chelsea will take this one 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 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 after all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot should not have to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a icon for the club but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.
Liverpool changed their shape against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation 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.
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 drained them.
I've selected 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.
With the exception of 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 fatigue is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of Sunderland's energetic style.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied 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 superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with him, has also been one of the signings of the season and should be recognised too.
This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture
