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Sunday heralds the first Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or Newcastle?
"Throughout the majority of last season, it was unthinkable Sunderland rising to the top flight and holding their own with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," stated pundit Chris Sutton.
"It is very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a solid shot."
Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this season, against artificial intelligence, the public and a range of guests.
For week 16, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.
Ray is competing for honours for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's formal esports team – at the gaming title digital Euros finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and its YouTube counterpart and the national team's Twitch.
What are your thoughts with their predictions? You can make your own predictions below.
The most popular scoreline chosen for each game is displayed on the tables at the end of this page.
Predicting the right outcome (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth ten points. The exact score earns 40 points.
Ray, who represents Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after getting through the qualifying.
Eight players will play for their countries at the finals in a straight knockout, vying for a substantial cash prize and a coveted spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.
"My mindset is really good for it," Ray said. "I've got a really good coach alongside me and training has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an actual footballer, but when you enter this profession and there is an chance to represent England, donning the national jersey is something incredible.
"I overcame 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 not previously defeated him in a tournament before.
"In my opinion he is the number one in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just delivers a massive injection of confidence."
Premier League Forecasts
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The Blues were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and I was thinking they've turned a corner, they could potentially be title contenders.
In the matches following, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to get back on track, but it won't be easy because Everton are such a dangerous 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 likely back the visitors, while the most sensible prediction would likely be a draw, but I'm going against logic.
They have not given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a hunch Chelsea will take this one 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 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 after all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot ought not to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a legend for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.
Liverpool changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top.
All the talk is going to be talking about whether Salah is selected 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.
You could argue 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 efforts at the San Siro will have affected their stamina.
I've selected a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will almost certainly blank - 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 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 inconsistent, 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 significant issue in how this game goes because of Sunderland's intensity.
Their match against Arsenal demonstrated 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 brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with 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
