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Sunday brings the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – the Black Cats or the Magpies?
"During the bulk of last season, it was unthinkable Sunderland getting promoted and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind being above them in the table," remarked analyst Chris Sutton.
"Things are very different now, and the way Sunderland play convinces me they've got a genuine opportunity."
The analyst is providing scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, in competition with artificial intelligence, readers and a range of guests.
For week 16, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is going for glory for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's official esports team – at the football simulation Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and the national team's Twitch.
Are you in alignment with their predictions? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.
The most popular scoreline picked for each game is featured in the tables at the foot of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns forty points.
Ray, who also plays his club side and the Premier League champions as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualifying.
Eight players will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, vying for a six-figure prize fund and a coveted spot in the world finals play-offs, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"My mindset is really good for it," Ray remarked. "I have a really good coach with me and practice has been going well.
"Representing your country is always an honour to play for your country. Of course when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an professional footballer, but when you pursue a career in this profession 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 throughout the year just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd always lost to him in a tournament before.
"In my opinion he is the top competitor in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just provides a massive injection of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The London club were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they secured a point after going down to 10 men, and it seemed here we go, they could possibly be title contenders.
Since then, however, they were outfought by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got defeated by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca is in need of a win here to get back on track, but it won't be easy because the Merseyside club are such a threatening team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing at the top of their game and Everton have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
Based on recent performances you would probably back Everton, while the most sensible prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.
They have not given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a hunch 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'm attending this game and it will be intriguing to see what we get from the Reds.
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 Liverpool but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.
Liverpool changed their tactical setup against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation 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 makes amends.
Slot's primary concern will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.
One might suggest 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 quite open too.
The Merseysiders need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their exertions at the San Siro will have taken out of them.
I've selected a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, 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
Sunderland have had the week off while Newcastle had to exert themselves against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to concede a late equaliser late on.
Apart from their superb 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 lack of freshness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of their rivals' high press.
It was evident how unwavering Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch.
Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the top transfers and warrants praise too.
All signs point to this being the best game|most exciting fixture
