Chris Sutton's Forecasts against England Gaming Star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray

An illustrative picture for the feature
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This Sunday heralds the first Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but which side will celebrate – Sunderland or the Magpies?

"For most of last season, no one would have predicted Sunderland rising to the top flight and challenging 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 they play leads me to believe they've got a real chance."

The analyst is providing scoreline guesses 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 going for glory for the England's esports team – the Football Association's recognised esports team – at the EA Sports FC Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which is being held at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

You can watch Uefa's YouTube, IG Live and short-form video channels, as well as EA Sports FC Twitch and YouTube and England's Twitch.

What are your thoughts with their scores? You can make your own predictions below.

The fan-favourite scoreline chosen for each game is used in the leaderboards at the bottom of this page.

A correct result (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

Daniel 'Stingray' Ray with his trainer and manager.
Numerous entrants competed in the European esports championship and a mere eight are left. Ray, pictured here with his trainer and England Gaming team manager Denman, carries the nation's aspirations. England also have esports teams in Rocket League and Football Manager.

Ray, who competes for Gen City and Manchester City as well as England, is making his debut at the eEuros finals after successfully navigating the preliminary stage.

Eight players will play for their countries at the finals in a single-elimination, playing for a substantial cash prize and a coveted spot in the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with the Danish representative Anders Vejrgang looking to retain the title he won last year.

"I am feeling really good for it," Ray said. "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. Naturally when you are younger, you imagine doing it as an real-life footballer, but when you go into this job and there is an chance to represent England, putting the shirt on is something unique.

"I defeated Vejrgang 9-4 in qualifying to get here. I've played against him over the course of the season just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd not previously defeated him in a tournament before.

"For me he is the number one in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just provides a crazy boost of confidence."

Daniel Ray playing.
Ray's sporting hero is Lionel Messi and he feels his in-game approach is similar to his hero. "I utilise a bit of skill and I like to play with a bit of vision, 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

The Blues were excellent against Arsenal at the end of November, when they earned a stalemate after going down to 10 men, and many thought here we go, they could potentially be title contenders.

Since then, 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 restore momentum, but it is a tough ask because the Merseyside club are such a potent team.

Their key midfielders are playing at the top of their game and they have got a bit of momentum at the moment.

On form you would probably back Everton, while the most sensible prediction would probably be a draw, but I'm going against logic.

The Blues have failed to given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a feeling 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'm attending this game and it will be fascinating to see what we get from the Reds.

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

Slot shouldn't need to put up with that nonsense. I know Salah has been a great for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no bias in his team selection.

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

Everyone is going to be talking about whether Salah is included 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 tough one.

It's fair to say 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.

Liverpool need to get back to winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have taken out of them.

I put a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, so they will likely do poorly - 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 benefit of a free week while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to let their lead slip away late on.

With the exception of their excellent performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form hasn't been great, especially straight after they've played in the Champions League.

I am expecting that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their fatigue is likely to be a key element in how this game goes because of Sunderland's intensity.

It was evident how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was amazing to watch.

Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been outstanding for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the top transfers and deserves some attention too.

This promises to be this being the best game|most exciting fixture

Anthony Lewis
Anthony Lewis

A seasoned web developer and digital strategist with over a decade of experience in creating user-centric online solutions.