Sutton's Projections vying with English Gaming Prodigy Daniel 'Stingray' Ray

The weekend brings the initial Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or Newcastle?

"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland getting promoted and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, much less being above them in the table," commented football expert Chris Sutton.

"It is very different now, and the way Sunderland play convinces me they've got a solid shot."

Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against artificial intelligence, the public and a variety of guests.

For week 16, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is vying for victory for the England's esports team – the Football Association's formal 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, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.

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

The most popular scoreline picked for each game is displayed on the scoreboards at the foot of this page.

Getting the win/draw/loss right (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns forty points.

Ray, who competes for his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after passing the qualifying.

Eight players will play for their countries at the finals in a straight knockout, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a coveted spot in the world finals play-offs, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.

"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I have a really good coach alongside me and practice has been going well.

"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you go into this field and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something incredible.

"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 not previously defeated him in a tournament before.

"For me he is the number one in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just provides a massive injection of confidence."

Premier League Forecasts

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

Chelsea were excellent against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could potentially be title contenders.

In the matches following, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to restore momentum, but it is a tough ask because Everton are such a dangerous team.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing at the top of their game and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.

Current evidence suggests you would likely back Everton, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

The Blues have failed to given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct they will emerge victorious 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'll be at this game and it will be intriguing to see what we get from Liverpool.

I am really pleased 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 fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.

Liverpool 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 included 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 difficult fixture.

It's fair to say 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.

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 have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will almost certainly blank - 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 work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.

Apart from their brilliant 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 trend to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of their rivals' energetic style.

It was evident how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.

Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the signings of the season and deserves some attention too.

All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture