Sutton's Forecasts versus England Gaming Star Daniel 'The Stingray' Ray

Sunday brings the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – the Black Cats or Newcastle?

"During the bulk of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland rising to the top flight and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," stated analyst Chris Sutton.

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

The analyst is providing forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with artificial intelligence, fans and a variety of guests.

For this weekend's fixtures, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is vying for victory for the eLions – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the EA Sports FC Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

The action will be streamed on Uefa's YouTube, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.

Do you agree with their predictions? Share your own projections below.

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

A correct result (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. The exact score earns forty points.

Ray, who represents Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualification rounds.

Eight players will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, competing for a $100,000 prize pool and a highly sought-after spot in the global championship qualifiers, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "I've got a really good coach with me and practice has been going well.

"It's always 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 opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something unique.

"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.

"For me he is the best player in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just provides a massive injection of confidence."

Premier League Weekend Preview

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

Chelsea were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after going down to 10 men, and many thought here we go, they could possibly be title contenders.

In the matches following, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked lethargic 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 won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a dangerous team.

Two of their stars are playing at the top of their game and they have got a bit of form at the moment.

Based on recent performances you would probably back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.

The Blues have failed to given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a hunch Chelsea will emerge victorious because they are at home and they are overdue a victory.

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 interesting 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 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 great for the club but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.

They changed their tactical setup against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top.

The media 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 challenging encounter.

It's fair to say it is the same for most teams but I find Brighton so mercurial. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are defensively susceptible too.

The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their energy spent at the San Siro will have taken out of them.

I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, so they will likely do poorly - 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

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 brilliant 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 trend to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's energetic style.

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

Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the top transfers and deserves some attention too.

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