The Pundit's Projections vying with England Gaming Ace Daniel 'Stingray' Ray

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Sunday heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but which side will celebrate – Sunderland or the Magpies?

"Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club 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.

"The situation is very different now, and the way they play convinces me they've got a genuine opportunity."

He is offering scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, against artificial intelligence, the public and a assortment of guests.

For the upcoming matchday, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray.

Ray is going for glory for the national gaming squad – the Football Association's recognised esports team – at the gaming title Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

You can watch Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and England's Twitch.

Do you agree with their predictions? You can make your own projections below.

The most popular scoreline chosen for each game is featured in the leaderboards at the bottom of this page.

Predicting the right outcome (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns forty points.

The esports competitor with his coach and manager.
Fifty nations took part in the European esports championship and only eight are left. Ray, seen here with his coach Nick den Hamer and England Gaming team manager Denman, holds the nation's aspirations. England also have esports teams in the vehicular soccer game and the management simulation.

Ray, who also plays his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after passing the qualification rounds.

The final eight competitors will play for their countries at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a $100,000 prize pool and a highly sought-after spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I'm feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "There's a really good coach by my side and training has been going well.

"It is invariably an honour to play for your country. Naturally when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an professional footballer, but when you go into this profession and there is an chance to represent England, donning the national jersey is something special.

"I defeated 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.

"For me he is the top competitor in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just gives you a massive injection of confidence."

Stingray competing.
Ray's favourite real-life player is Lionel Messi and he believes his game playing style is reminiscent of his hero. "My style involves a bit of flair and creativity and I like to play with a bit of incisive passing, so I'd say that is a good comparison," he said. "It's flattering with that comparison!"

Premier League Weekend Preview

Saturday, 13 December

Chelsea vs Everton

Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT

The London club were impressive against the Gunners at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after being reduced to 10 men, and I was thinking here we go, they could possibly be challengers for the crown.

In the matches following, however, they were overpowered by Leeds, looked flat against Bournemouth and this week got defeated by Atalanta in the Champions League.

So manager Enzo Maresca really needs a win here to get back on track, but it will be a challenge because Everton are such a dangerous team.

Two of their stars are playing really well and Everton have got a bit of form at the moment.

Current evidence suggests you would probably back Everton, while the most logical prediction would likely be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible.

Chelsea haven't given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a hunch Chelsea 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.

It was great to see for Reds boss Arne Slot to get such a great win at Inter Milan on Tuesday after all the controversy with Mohamed Salah this week.

Slot ought not to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a legend for the club but fundamentally Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection.

Liverpool changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top.

The media 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 says sorry.

Slot's primary concern will be on winning this game, but it is a difficult fixture.

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 vulnerable at the back too.

The Merseysiders need to get back to stringing wins together, but I am not sure how much their exertions at the San Siro will have taken out of them.

I put a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, 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 Black Cats have had the benefit of a free week 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, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.

It is anticipated that that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of their rivals' intensity.

Their match against Arsenal demonstrated how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.

Everyone talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays in midfield with 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

Spencer Pope
Spencer Pope

Lena Voss is a tech journalist and UX designer with a passion for human-centered design.