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The weekend heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but which side will celebrate – the Black Cats or Newcastle?

"Throughout the majority of last season, it was unthinkable Sunderland getting promoted and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," stated football expert Chris Sutton.

"The situation is very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a genuine opportunity."

Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, fans and a range of guests.

For this weekend's fixtures, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is competing for honours for the eLions – the Football Association's recognised 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, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.

What are your thoughts with their forecasts? You can make your own predictions below.

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

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

Ray, who also plays his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after getting through the preliminary stage.

A group of eight will fly the flag at the finals in a knockout format, vying for a $100,000 prize pool 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.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "I've got a really good coach alongside me and training 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 real-life footballer, but when you go into this profession and there is an chance 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 throughout the year just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd always lost to him in a tournament before.

"For me he is the number one in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just delivers a huge surge of confidence."

Premier League Weekend Preview

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The London club were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they got a draw after being reduced to 10 men, and many thought here we go, they could potentially be challengers for the crown.

In the matches following, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked lethargic against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So boss Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to restore momentum, but it will be a challenge because Everton are such a threatening team.

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

Current evidence suggests you would probably back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.

Chelsea haven't given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a hunch they 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 am at this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from Liverpool.

I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the stuff 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 fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.

They changed their shape against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.

Everyone 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 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.

Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their exertions at the San Siro will have taken out of them.

I put a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, 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 Black Cats have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.

Apart from their brilliant performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been inconsistent, 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 their rivals' high press.

We saw how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.

Many pundits 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 best acquisitions and warrants praise too.

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