This is Newcastle's shot at stopping Chelsea's quest for four titles.
The Blues have already reached the League Cup final against Liverpool and, with a nine-point lead in the Premier League, most have conceded them that trophy, too.
To stay alive in the other two competitions, Chelsea must survive Newcastle in the FA Cup and Barcelona in the Champions League.
First comes Newcastle today at St. James' Park.
The Magpies are hungry going into the fifth-round match.
"We are at Newcastle United, it's a big, big club and we haven't won anything for a long time," said Newcastle assistant manager Alan Murray. "We are working very hard to make sure we change that."
Newcastle hasn't won the top-league in England since 1927, and it's been 50 years since the club won the FA Cup.
Beating Chelsea would salvage a bad season and avenge a 4-0 loss to the Blues in December.
Seven other FA Cup fifth-round matches are set for this weekend.
Newcastle should be buoyed by Thursday's 2-1 victory at Heerenveen in the first-leg of the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup. Alan Shearer and Lee Bowyer scored for the Magpies.
Newcastle hopes to recall midfielder Nicky Butt, who has been out with an ankle injury, and forward Kieron Dyer. Dyer missed Thursday's game with a viral infection.
Chelsea can't afford to look ahead to Wednesday's high-profile match at Barcelona. For many, it's the most anticipated game of the season, pitting Chelsea's Jose Mourinho -- who won the Champions League last season with Porto -- against Barca and coach and former Dutch star Frank Rijkaard.
The other big match of the weekend comes Saturday when Wayne Rooney returns to Everton with Man United.
Rooney is sure to get a rude welcome at Goodison Park.
The 19-year-old England striker grew up as an Everton fan, joined the club and then left in the offseason in a ?27-million (US$50.7 million) move to Manchester United.
Interestingly, Everton struggled with Rooney. But without him this season, the Toffees are holding down fourth place -- which would yield a Champions League place next season.
Everton will have a striker problem.
New signing James Beattie starts a three-game suspension after last weekend's red card against Chelsea. Australian forward Tim Cahill is also banned and Duncan Ferguson, who has a habit of scoring against the Reds, is doubtful because of a back injury.
Midfielder Mikel Arteta is likely to get his first start after moving from Spanish team Real Sociedad.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy is likely to return to the Man U bench after being out for two months with an Achilles tendon problem. Van Nistelrooy could test his fitness Saturday, preparing for a starting debut against Barcelona.
The only other fifth-round game to feature two Premier League teams is Bolton vs. Fulham, while five more meet clubs from the lower divisions.
Because of the cup action, no Premier League games are scheduled this weekend while Championship League leader Ipswich, which holds a five-point advantage, has a tricky game against fourth-place Preston on Friday.
Second-place Wigan hosts Leeds on Saturday with third-place Sunderland visiting Brighton.
Jeremy Clement scored in injury time to help first-place Lyon salvage a 1-1 draw at Monaco on Friday.
Clement headed in Juninho's cross just seconds before the game's end, depriving Monaco of a win that would have reignited the championship race in the French first division. Lyon leads with 53 points after 26 rounds of matches. Monaco is in third place, nine points behind, and has played one fewer match than Lyon.
Lyon is looking for a record-tying fourth straight title, a feat previously achieved by Saint-Etienne and Marseille.
Monaco had the better opportunities, but only broke through after Michael Essien was sent off in the 64th minute.
Defender Julien Rodriguez scored in the 83rd minute against a Lyon side reduced to 10 men, but Clement, a late addition to the squad because of an injury, met Juninho's curling 94th-minute free kick with a perfect header.
Monaco began brightly and in the fifth minute Mohamed Kallon tested goalkeeper Gregory Coupet with a shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Brazilian defender Maicon, Monaco's best player on the night, burst into the area in the 15th minute but tried to beat Coupet inside his near post when he could have squared to the unmarked Javier Saviola, lurking two yards from the goal.
Midway through the first half, Coupet's brilliant one-handed save stopped Maicon's swerving free kick.
In the 34th, Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor sprinted down the middle and beat Coupet, only to have Brazilian defender Cris clear the ball away.
Lyon continued to struggle after halftime, with Cris and Eric Abidal forced to concede free kicks just outside the area.
In the 62nd minute, Essien's late tackle on Kallon prompted an outbreak of shoving among the players.
Two minutes later, tempers flared again when Essien elbowed Kallon and was sent off by referee Pascal Garibian. It was Lyon's first red card of the season.
Furious, Essien pushed Garibian and had to be dragged away by midfield partner Mahamadou Diarra.
Monaco's goal came when Maicon crossed into the penalty area and Rodriguez athletically half-volleyed the ball past Coupet and into the bottom-right corner.
It was his first goal for Monaco in 116 league matches.
Eleven-time Ukraine league champion Dynamo Kiev could come under scrutiny as part of the new Ukrainian government's review of past privatizations, a top government official said Friday, drawing an angry response from the club's president.
Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko said he would not rule out that Dynamo's ownership would be examined as part of a government effort to contest privatizations conducted illegally during the 10-year presidency of Leonid Kuchma, which ended last month.
Dynamo's president, Ihor Surkis, called Tomenko's statement "incompetent'" and said there were no legal grounds for questioning Dynamo.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was