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Sunday sees the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but which side will celebrate – the Black Cats or Newcastle?
"For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," commented pundit Chris Sutton.
"Things are very different now, and the way they play leads me to believe 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, 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 official esports team – at the football simulation Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The action will be streamed on Uefa's video platform, Instagram 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? Feel free to submit your own guesses below.
The most popular scoreline chosen for each game is used in the scoreboards 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 competes for 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 qualification rounds.
Eight players will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a substantial cash prize and a highly sought-after spot in the world finals play-offs, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year.
"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray stated. "There's a really good coach alongside me and practice has been going well.
"It's always an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you dream about doing it as an actual footballer, but when you pursue a career in this field and there is an chance to represent England, donning the national jersey is something special.
"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 never beaten him in a tournament before.
"For me he is the top competitor in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just delivers a crazy boost of confidence."
Premier League Predictions
Saturday, 13 December
Chelsea vs Everton
Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT
The Blues were impressive against Arsenal at the end of November, when they got a draw after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking this is it, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.
Since then, however, they were beaten physically by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got beaten by Atalanta in the Champions League.
So head coach Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to get back on track, but it is a tough ask because Everton are such a dangerous team.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing exceptionally and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment.
Based on recent performances you would likely back Everton, while the most prudent prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm throwing caution to the wind.
The Blues have failed to given me any compelling evidence 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'm attending this game and it will be intriguing to see what we get from Liverpool.
I was delighted for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a important victory at Inter Milan on Tuesday following all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week.
Slot should not have to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a legend for the club but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.
They 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 selected for this game, but the only way he is going to be brought back into the fold is if he makes amends.
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 hard to predict. I always feel they have got a goal in them, but they are defensively susceptible 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 taken out of them.
I put 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 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.
Apart from their excellent performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been inconsistent, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.
The pattern suggests 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' intensity.
It was evident how incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch.
Commentators talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal 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 should be recognised too.
I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture
