Wonder whether Gareth Southgate has one eye on the football scores. Liverpool have just taken the lead at Anfield against Old Trafford!

Dave Woods
BBC Rugby League correspondent

Catalans Dragons’ history making win in the Challenge Cup final, the first non-English side to win Rugby League’s 112 year old prize. A win that sent ripples across the whole of the Catalans region, and led to Barcelona FC inviting the Dragons to play a match against Champions Wigan at the Nou Camp in 2019.

Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas is here! He's told us he's an Arsenal fan and he's 'big into his football and rugby.'

He won't be happy with today's result at Southampton then...

Spoty has been getting plenty of mentions on social media and talk of tonight's show has spiked since Friday.

Tyson Fury remains the most talked about athlete while Ronnie O’Sullivan and Harry Kane are also receiving plenty of mentions.

Here's what everybody's discussing:

FRESH!

YouTuber Craig Mitch and 1Xtra's Sideman are ready to get to work - check out their Instagram Stories on the bbcfootball and BBC Sport pages.

Gareth Southgate is opening his secret santa present. What's he got... a Christmas waistcoat! He looks pretty chuffed with it. It doesn't match his Burnley tie though.

Image source, Getty Images

Jo Currie
BBC Sport women's football expert

Seeing more than 45,000 fans turn out at Wembley for the 2018 Women’s FA Cup final was a special moment. The atmosphere was rocking and it turned out to be a cracking match too. Ramona Bachmann stole the show, scoring two goals as Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-1 on their way to a historic domestic double.

Boxer Tyson Fury has been speaking on the Spoty red carpet.

After his draw against Deontay Wilder in Los Angeles, Fury says anyone can come back from adversity:

"I had to win for the people suffering, I had to get up in the 12th round and keep fighting. When you're at the bottom, it's probably a good thing, because the only way you can go is up.

"We all struggling in our lives but for anyone out there struggling, all you have to do is ask, there are plenty of people around to help."

Fury added anyone can find the courage to ask for help:

"I was in a dark place and for two of those, I kept it bottled up inside but as soon as I got professional help I started to get better.

"Never write anyone off and never judge a book by its cover. Getting up in 12th round was one of the most epic moments in my life."

Image source, BBC Sport

Gareth Southgate is on the phone on the red carpet. His mum is probably telling him to sort his tie out. It's a nice maroon and blue stripey one. Is Southgate a secret Burnley fan?

Mo Farah became the first long-distance runner to win the Sports Personality award since Paula Radcliffe in 2002 when he picked up the accolade last year.

The British athlete completed a 'double double' in Rio as he won his fourth Olympic gold and became only the second man to retain the 5,000m and 10,000m titles.

He was later knighted in the New Year honours' list.

Neil Twitchett: One of my favourite TV nights of the year. Good luck to all the nominees at #SPOTY in what has been an excellent year for British Sport.

James Felton: Hope #SPOTY goes to Geraint Thomas, Alastair Cook or Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Image source, Getty Images

You will be able to vote for your BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2018 during this year's programme - either by phone or for free online - but not until voting opens later in the show.

The nominees will be announced during the live show, with phone numbers for each of the nominees shown on screen during the broadcast.

Do not call until voting opens. If you wish to vote online, you will need a BBC account. Details of how to get one can be found HERE.

Image source, BBC Sport

Ross Bone
BBC Sport hockey expert

No prizes for guessing the hockey highlight of the year. Ireland’s women winning the silver medal at the Hockey Women’s World Cup is right up there as one of the greatest underdog stories of all time. Second lowest ranked side in the tournament, next to no funding, didn’t even book a hotel beyond the pool stages and there they were in front of 10,000+ fans in the final against the Netherlands. The loss was irrelevant – the story was incredible.

I asked some of my colleagues what their favourite moments of the year was in each of their specialist sports.

I'll drop them in throughout the night and we can all take a trip down memory lane.

English cricket legends Alistair Cook and James Anderson are taking selfies on the red carpet with the BBC team. They're looking very dapper in their suits too.

David Baddiel and Frank Skinner will be performing later in the show. And I can't wait!

Anna Thompson
BBC Sport at Sports Personality

Jess Ennis-Hill is as popular as ever as she arrives at Spoty and has to sign lots of autographs for fans before heading to the red carpet. She’s been the Get Inspired Unsung Hero ambassador this year and will hand out the award later in the show.

Image source, BBC Sport

June – Royal Ascot, Le Mans 24hr race, World Cup

July – World Cup final, Wimbledon, Tour de France, British Grand Prix

August – European Athletics Championships, Challenge Cup final, Vuelta a Espana, US Open tennis

September – End of women’s football World Cup qualifying, Nations League, Ryder Cup

October – Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Super League Grand Final

November – ATP Finals, UK Snooker Championship

December - PDC World Championships (Darts), Swimming World Championships

Image source, BBC Sport

Boxer Tyson Fury is on the red carpet! He says he "had to get up and keep fighting". If you didn't watch his fight with Deontay Wilder, you missed out...

I had a look through this year's sporting calendar to reminisce on an incredible 2018. Here are some of the best bits...

January – Australian Open

February – Women’s Six Nations, Super Bowl, Winter Olympics

March – World Indoor Athletics Championships, Triathlon World Series, Rugby six nations, Cheltenham Festival, Australian Grand Prix - first F1 race of season, Sandpaper-gate!

April – Commonwealth Games, The Masters, Grand National, Boston Marathon, Snooker World Championships, London Marathon

May – Football (FA Cup final, Champions League final, end of PL season etc.) French Open tennis, Indy 500

Image source, BBC Sport