Rooney ready to put Celtic to the sword...

The big games cannot come quickly enough for in-form Wayne Rooney who is currently on a hot run of scoring form that has seen him plunder eight goals from his last six games.

Tonight United welcome Celtic to Old Trafford in the Champions League, I won't use the worn out term "Battle of Britain" to describe this clash, because for one thing the Red Devils are not representing England. Matches between United and Celtic are usually quite entertaining, largely because both teams share the same attacking philosophy, but that is as far as it goes because we have little else in common with Celtic.

The notion that there's some sort of empathy between the two sets of fans has by and large been dispelled, this is due to off the field events before and after recent meetings, I refer to the not so not so noble art of fisty-cuffs when the two sets of supporters have clashed. So what has caused these recent dust-ups? According to reliably informed reports, United supporters took exception to Celtic fans "larging it" and especially their gross behaviour in the city centre during their last visit to Old Trafford. I will spare my readers the gory details... It is to be hoped that both ties with Celtic will be peaceful affairs, both on and off the pitch.

Ahead of the big game and following his latest United goal, Wayne Rooney, hinted that he cannot wait for the next game to come around. Rooney was talking to the media after United's win against West Brom last weekend and no less than three times he called upon the Red Army to crank-up the atmosphere when Celtic take on the champions.

The way he's playing right now Rooney is coming close to being unplayable, not surprisingly sections of the media have put this upturn in form down to Fabio Capello. While that point of view cannot be totally dismissed, the truth of the matter is that Rooney has been striving to improve his goals to chances ratio for a good while. Rooney had to overcome a summer virus too, so the truth of the matter is that there are many factors behind this very welcome goal avalanche.

IF Celtic pay too much attention to shackling Rooney, his partner-in-crime Ronaldo can be even more devastating and there's Carlos Tevez who will likely start the game. I'm expecting United to rattle in a few goals this evening. It should be a cracker.