🔗 Share this article Sutton's Projections versus England Gaming Ace Daniel 'Stingray' Ray Published: Over half an hour ago Comments: 14 The weekend heralds the initial Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but who will emerge victorious – Sunderland or the Magpies? "Throughout the majority of last season, no one would have predicted Sunderland earning promotion and being competitive with Eddie Howe's Newcastle, let alone being above them in the table," commented pundit Chris Sutton. "It is very different now, and the way Sunderland play convinces me they've got a genuine opportunity." He is offering scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with AI, readers and a variety of guests. For week 16, he is challenged by 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 gaming title European esports championship finals tournament, which will occur at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday. The action will be streamed on Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and short-form video channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and England's Twitch. Are you in alignment with their forecasts? Feel free to submit your own predictions below. The most popular scoreline chosen for each game is used in the tables at the bottom of this page. A correct result (choosing a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns 40 points. Fifty nations competed in the Uefa EA Sports FC eEuros and only eight are left. Ray, seen here with his coach Nick den Hamer and England Gaming team manager Denman, bears the eLions' hopes. England also have competitive gaming squads in Rocket League and the management simulation. Ray, who represents his club side and Manchester City as well as England, is competing for the first time at the eEuros finals after passing the qualifying. A group of eight will play for their countries at the finals in a knockout format, competing for a six-figure prize fund and a prestigious 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 remarked. "I've got 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 real-life footballer, but when you go into this field 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 over the course of the season just in practice, and in other tournaments before - but I'd always lost to him in a tournament before. "In my opinion he is the top competitor in the world so beating him in a tournament like this just provides a huge surge of confidence." Ray's favourite real-life player is Lionel Messi and he feels his game playing style is similar to his hero. "I play with a bit of skill 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 Forecasts Saturday, 13 December Chelsea vs Everton Stamford Bridge, 15:00 GMT The London club were outstanding 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 challengers for the crown. Since then, 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 return to winning ways, but it will be a challenge because the Toffees are such a dangerous team. Their key midfielders are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of a positive run at the moment. On form you would likely back the visitors, while the most logical prediction would probably be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible. The Blues have failed to given me any real reason to back them recently, but I just have a gut instinct they will take this one 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 interesting 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 should not have to put up with that drama. I know Salah has been a great for the club but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection. They changed their formation against Inter and went with a midfield diamond formation and two up top. The media 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 says sorry. Slot's attention 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 hard to predict. 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 winning consistently, but I am not sure how much their efforts at the San Siro will have drained them. I put a couple of Brighton players in my FPL team, so they will almost certainly blank - but I do fancy them to 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 be pegged back late on. Apart from their brilliant 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. The pattern suggests 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 incessant Regis le Bris's side are. They dominated the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch. Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been phenomenal for the Black Cats, and he has been brilliant, but Noah Sadiki, who plays alongside him, has also been one of the signings of the season and deserves some attention too. I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture