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This Sunday brings the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but which side will celebrate – the Black Cats or the Magpies?
"For most of last season, it was unthinkable the Wearside club earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," remarked pundit Chris Sutton.
"Things are very different now, and the way Sunderland play convinces me they've got a real chance."
He is offering predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against artificial intelligence, fans and a range of guests.
For this weekend's fixtures, he takes on England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the eLions – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the EA Sports FC Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's YouTube, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and England's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their predictions? You can make your own guesses below.
The most commonly selected scoreline picked for each game is used in the scoreboards at the foot of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. An accurate scoreline earns 40 points.
Ray, who represents his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after passing the preliminary stage.
The final eight competitors will fly the flag at the finals in a straight knockout, vying for a $100,000 prize pool and a highly sought-after spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I am feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "I've got a really good coach alongside me and training has been going well.
"Representing your country is always an honour to play for your country. Obviously when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you enter this job 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 always lost to him in a tournament before.
"I believe he is the best player in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just delivers a massive injection 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 secured a point after being reduced to 10 men, and many thought here we go, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
However, since that game, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to return to winning ways, but it is a tough ask because the Toffees are such a threatening team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
Current evidence suggests you would probably back Everton, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.
The Blues have failed to given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a feeling they 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'll be at this game and it will be interesting 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 stuff with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot should not have to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a legend for Liverpool but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive 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 included for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he makes amends.
Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a tough one.
You could argue 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 vulnerable at the back too.
Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their energy spent 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 Wearside club have had the opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to battle intensely against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on.
With the exception of their excellent 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.
The pattern suggests that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of Sunderland's intensity.
It was evident how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.
Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been excellent, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the top transfers and deserves some attention too.
All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture
