Game on! Newcastle United v Manchester United.
The game this evening will be very much a tale of two United's, although there will be only one true United on show.
Manchester United may have the better players, the trophies, the adulation of the media. They may even be referred to as 'United' by many in a way that almost disregards the fact that other teams who are legitimately carrying the 'United' after their name actually exist. But they will never be a true United - that honour belongs to Newcastle!
Not that it will have any bearing on the result this evening of course, but it makes me feel better knowing that they will never be a real United, no matter how much the media try and and portray them as being the only United that counts.
Rant over! Now I can turn my attention to the match....
It's highly unlikely that Newcastle will take any points this evening, but you have to live in hope I guess. Our recent history with Manchester United would suggest that any hope may be futile but you just have to roll with it and see what the team in black and white can put together. Shocks do happen!
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports and is available on many channels the world over so we should all be able to see it somewhere, whether that be a pub or the comfort of our own homes. If you can't watch it on TV then I'm sure there will be plenty on internet streams knocking about. Nothing will beat actually being there though, so to those who are going make you sure sing your hearts out for the lads and have a goodun!
The match preview is here if you haven't already done so. It features some early team news, injury news and some facts and stats ahead of the big game tonight.
As I said, I'm not getting my hopes up. I expect a lot of hard work and endeavour from our lads, but I also expect that all that effort will amount to nothing against a team that is gunning for the title.
Howay the lads!
Team news...
Newcastle: Tim Krul, Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Cheik Tiote, Danny Guthrie, Jonas Gutierrez, Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands.
Subs: Ole Soderberg, James Perch, Steven Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Stephen Ireland, Nile Ranger, Shefki Kuqi
Man Utd: Edwin van der Sar, John O'Shea, Chris Smalling, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Nani, Michael Carrick, Anderson, Ryan Giggs, Javier Hernandez, Wayne Rooney.
Subs: Tomasz Kuszczak, Fabio Da Silva, Jonny Evans, Darron Gibson, Ji-Sung Park, Antonio Valencia, Michael Owen.