🔗 Share this article Chris Sutton's Projections against English Gaming Ace Daniel 'Stingray' Ray Published: Over half an hour ago Comments: 14 Sunday heralds the inaugural Wear-Tyne derby after 2024, but will it be – Sunderland or the Magpies? "Throughout the majority of last season, you couldn't have imagined the Wearside club earning promotion and being competitive 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 genuine opportunity." Sutton is making scoreline guesses for all 380 Premier League games this campaign, in competition with AI, readers and a range of guests. For this weekend's fixtures, he is challenged by England Gaming star Daniel 'Stingray' Ray. Ray is competing for honours for the England's esports team – the Football Association's official esports team – at the football simulation Uefa eEuro 2025 finals tournament, which takes place at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday. The action will be streamed on Uefa's YouTube, Instagram Live and TikTok channels, as well as the official Twitch channel and YouTube and England's Twitch. Are you in alignment with their scores? You can make your own projections below. The most commonly selected scoreline selected for each game is used in the leaderboards at the foot of this page. Predicting the right outcome (selecting a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. A perfect prediction earns forty points. Half a hundred countries competed in the European esports championship and only eight are left. Ray, pictured here with his trainer and England Gaming team manager Denman, carries the eLions' hopes. England also have competitive gaming squads in Rocket League and the management simulation. Ray, who also plays Gen City and the Premier League champions as well as England, is entering the fray at the eEuros finals after getting through the preliminary stage. A group of eight will fly the flag at the finals in a single-elimination, vying for a substantial cash prize and a highly sought-after spot in the global championship qualifiers, with Denmark's Anders Vejrgang defending the title he won last year. "I'm feeling really good for it," Ray remarked. "There's a really good coach with me and training has been going well. "Representing your country is 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 enter this job and there is an opportunity to represent England, putting the shirt on is something incredible. "I beat 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 not previously defeated him in a tournament before. "For me he is the number one in the world so getting a win over him in a tournament like this just gives you a crazy boost of confidence." Ray's favourite real-life player is Lionel Messi and he thinks his virtual football style is similar to his hero. "I utilise a bit of skill and I like to play with a bit of foresight, so I'd say that is accurate," he explained. "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 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 uninspired against Bournemouth and this week got turned over by Atalanta in the Champions League. So boss Enzo Maresca desperately requires a win here to return to winning ways, but it won't be easy because the Toffees are such a potent team. Their key midfielders are playing exceptionally and Everton have got a bit of momentum at the moment. On form you would likely back Everton, while the most prudent prediction would likely be a draw, but I am not going to be sensible. The Blues have failed to given me any compelling evidence to back them recently, but I just have a feeling 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 fascinating 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 ought not to put up with that distraction. I know Salah has been a great for Liverpool but essentially Slot just wants to win games and there is no ulterior motive in his team selection. Liverpool changed their shape against Inter and went with a midfield diamond and two up top. Everyone 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 challenging encounter. One might suggest 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 quite open too. Liverpool need to get back to a consistent run of form, but I am not sure how much their exertions at the San Siro will have taken out of them. I have whacked a couple of Brighton players in my Fantasy Premier League side, 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 opportunity to rest while Newcastle had to work so hard against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, only to be pegged back late on. With the exception of their superb performance against Everton a couple of weeks ago, Newcastle's away form has been inconsistent, particularly straight after they've played in the Champions League. I am expecting that tendency to continue on Sunday, and their tiredness is likely to be a factor in how this game goes because of Sunderland's high press. We saw how relentless Regis le Bris's side are. They overpowered the Gunners, and it was a joy to watch. Many pundits talks about how Granit Xhaka has been brilliant for the Black Cats, and he has been superb, but Noah Sadiki, who plays next to him, has also been one of the best acquisitions and warrants praise too. I am expecting this being the best game|most exciting fixture