🔗 Share this article Chris Sutton's Projections versus eSports England Prodigy Daniel 'The Stingray' Ray Published: 36 minutes ago Comments: 14 The weekend sees the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby since 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or the Magpies? "For most of last season, you couldn't have imagined Sunderland earning promotion and challenging with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, never mind 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 real chance." The analyst is providing forecasts for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against artificial intelligence, the public and a variety of guests. For this weekend's fixtures, he faces off against England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray. Ray is competing for honours for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's official esports team – at the EA Sports FC digital Euros finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday. Viewers can catch Uefa's video platform, IG Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and England's Twitch. What are your thoughts with their forecasts? Share your own predictions below. The most commonly selected scoreline picked for each game is featured in the leaderboards at the foot of this page. Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points. Half a hundred countries competed in the European esports championship and just eight are left. Ray, shown here with his trainer and England Gaming team manager Denman, carries the eLions' hopes. England also have competitive gaming squads in the vehicular soccer game and the management simulation. Ray, who represents Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the qualifying. Eight players will represent their nations at the finals in a knockout format, vying for a $100,000 prize pool and a highly sought-after spot in the global championship qualifiers, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year. "I am feeling really good for it," Ray said. "I've got a really good coach with me and preparation 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 professional footballer, but when you go into this profession and there is an opportunity to represent England, donning the national jersey is something incredible. "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 never beaten him in a tournament before. "For me he is the best player in the world so defeating him in a tournament like this just delivers a crazy boost of confidence." Ray's footballing idol is Lionel Messi and he feels his game playing style is reminiscent of his hero. "I utilise a bit of skill and I like to play with a bit of incisive passing, so I'd say that is accurate," he explained. "I'm quite happy with that comparison!" Premier League Forecasts Saturday, 13 December Chelsea vs Everton Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT Chelsea were outstanding against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced 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 beaten physically by Leeds, looked uninspired 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 return to winning ways, but it will be a challenge because Everton are such a threatening team. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye are playing really well and they have got a bit of a positive run at the moment. On form you would probably back Everton, while the most prudent prediction would probably be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible. The Blues have failed to given me any good cause to back them recently, but I just have a hunch they will take this one 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 crucial result at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the discussion with Mohamed Salah this week. Slot shouldn't need to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a legend for the club but essentially 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. All the talk is going to be talking about whether Salah is included for this game, but the only way he is going to be reintegrated is if he says sorry. Slot's focus will be on winning this game, but it is a tough one. 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 vulnerable at the back too. The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have affected their stamina. I put a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, so they will likely do poorly - but I do think they can 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 week off while Newcastle had to work so hard 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 hasn't been great, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League. It is anticipated that that pattern to continue on Sunday, and their lack of freshness is likely to be a significant issue in how this game goes because of their rivals' intensity. It was evident how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They bullied the Gunners, and it was incredible to watch. Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been excellent, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and deserves some attention too. This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture