Hello again Seeing as I'll be rolling directly over to this game from the Arsenal v Aston Villa minute-by-minute I guess I better get in here early with a pre-preamble. Not that I'm planning to go for an actual amble at any point later on, though, you understand.

Anyway, the good news for Manchester United fans is that it looks like Sir Alex Ferguson has at last stumbled across the solution to Manchester United's defensive problems: Hull. Only Stoke have scored fewer Premier League goals so far this season, and the Tigers' joint-top scorers, Geovanni and Stephen Hunt, have just three each.

Hull have also gone three games now without a goal, but so far this season all four of their wins have come at home. They have also averaged - wait for it - more than one goal a game at home.

All of which does bring me on to a question I asked yesterday ... but will ask again because so far I haven't had a decent answer.

Why are some teams so much better at home than away? I appreciate crowd noise can be a factor - but top-flight grounds in particular aren't as noisy as they used to be and teams could surely have worked out by now how best to minimise the impact of travelling on match preparation. Some of it comes down to tactics, of course, but if that's the main factor then why do people bother changing their tactics at all?

Afternoon again Right, I'm here properly now, having wrapped up the coverage of Arsenal v Aston Villa. Let's see if I can't rustle up some team news.

Here they are Manchester United welcome back Rafael Da Silva, Nemanja Vicic and Wes Brown in defence, meaning Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick can both move back up into midfield. Ryan Giggs and Dimitar Berbatov both also start. Three changes for Hull, with Bernard Mendy, Seyi Olofinjana and Jozy Altidore replacing Paul McShane, Nick Barmby and Geovanni.

Hull: Myhill, Mendy, Gardner, Zayatte, Dawson, Garcia, Boateng, Olofinjana, Hunt, Altidore, Fagan. Subs: Duke, Barmby, Geovanni, Kilbane, Ghilas, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Cairney.
Man Utd: Kuszczak, Rafael Da Silva, Vidic, Brown, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Fletcher, Giggs, Berbatov, Rooney. Subs: Foster, Owen, Park, Welbeck, Fabio Da Silva, Obertan, De Laet.
Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)

Time for an email "Did anyone notice the picture on the wall behind Phil brown in his office," demands Anthony O Connell. "No it wasn't his family it was, yes, Phil Brown. The man is in love with himself."

In case you didn't realise Today's referee is Alan Wiley. The same Alan Wiley who Sir Alex Ferguson accused of being 'not fit' during Manchester United's draw with Sunderland in October. Unless I'm very much mistaken this is the first United game Wiley has taken since then.

Thoughts on home and away form "The answer to your question is that once a suitable standard has been reached, sport is 90% psychological," says David Acaster. "Teams believe they will win at home, so they win at home. If they believe they will win all the time, the probably will. The manager's job is to instill this belief."

1 min We're off. Wayne Rooney has gloves on. Tsk.

3 mins The two teams take turns to roll the ball about in the middle of the park but so far nobody's making any real headway. Hull's midfield are sitting very deep and very flat.

5 mins Hull win the first free-kick of the game about three yards into United's half after Brown takes down Altidore. The ball is pumped long in towards the box, but Boateng nobody can get a clean touch on the ball and it eventually is scuffed behind for a goal-kick.

6 mins Finally some better football from United, as Rooney feeds Valencia down the left channel and the winger eases in towards the edge of the area before chipping the ball back across the area to Giggs, whose first-time effort flies just over the bar. That would have been a very nice goal.

8 mins "It's all about preparation and the psychological side," insists Russell Richardson following my earlier question about teams doing so much better at home than away. "I remember reading how Liverpool in the 70s were the first to book hotels and a training ground for their European Cup away games, and took their own chefs - arriving a day early. This gave them a huge advantage (rested, bonded, well fed) while their opposite numbers sometimes arrived off a flight on the matchday The combination of a more solid away result and huge home dominance were (according to Liverpool) the reason they did increasingly well up to the Heysel disaster.
"Now, maybe a close look at teams' travel arrangements would be interesting. I doubt that many teams travel a full day ahead (e.g. from London to Manchester) but it'd be intriguing to know. What, for instance, do Burnley do compared with Manchester United?"

10 mins Hull win another free-kick just inside the United half, but this time Stephen Hunt's attempt to lump the ball forward is cleared at the first attempt by United. The visitors break quickly with Rooney racing down the left before checking back inside and threading a pass through too far ahead of Valencia on the far side. Or at least I think it was a pass. It may have been a bad shot.

12 mins Craig Fagan receives treatment after an overenthusiastic leap takes him right over the back of Da Silva and ends with the Hull player landing on his own shoulders. He seems to be alright, mind.

14 mins Boateng arrives late and chops down Carrick about 35 yards from the Hull goal. Giggs stands over the free-kick for United ...

15 mins ... but fails to clear the first man with his eventual delivery.

17 mins United win another free-kick inside the D after Zayatte brings down Rooney - and it was nearly a penalty actually, with the striker having one leg inside and one outside the box - and this time Giggs is so close to giving United the lead, whipping the ball up over the wall and just inches wide of the left-hand post.

18 mins That Giggs free-kick seems to have scared Hull into life, as Fagan exchanges passes with Hull down the left before the latter thumps in a cross with the outside of his boot that Vidic has to react sharply to head clear.

19 mins Fantastic challenge from Bernard Mendy to deny Rooney what would surely have been the opening goal. United got lucky twice in the build-up - the ball ricocheting back to Fletcher after a loose touch and then into the path of Rooney after his team-mate attempted a shot from 18 yards, but just as the striker put his foot through the ball Mendy was able to dive in front and block.

20 mins Mendy actually had to receive treatment after that block, but he's back on his feet now and seems OK.

21 mins Big penalty shout for Hull, as Wes Brown brings down Garcia as the Hull players chases onto a throughball from Fagan in the United area. Wiley waves the appeals away, and the first two replays suggest he got the call right, but a third angle clearly shows Garcia himself had nudged the ball away to the left before Brown came in and failed to reach it. That should have been a penalty.

23 mins And now Kuszczak has to get down sharply to block an effort from Garcia.

24 mins Hull appeal in vain for an infringement that I'm just not seeing after Berbatov lifts a neat ball into Rooney behind the home defence, but the latter sees his shot parried over the bar by Myhill. This game's beginning to open up a little.

27 mins Now Mendy sends the ball in towards Altidore with a meaty swing of his right boot but this time Vidic clears.

28 mins Nobody managed to cut out the cross that time and United again have Kuszczak to thank after he shows sharp reflexes to block Olofinjana's volleyed effort from 10 yards out. It was a really nice run from deep by the midfielder, but to be fair the shot was close to the keeper in the end.

31 mins Sir Alex Ferguson prowls the touchline looking grumpy as Rooney attempts another speculative effort across goal from some 25-yards out. The shot bounces gently into the hands of Myhill.

32 mins Patrice Evra picks up the first booking of the game after appearing to hold back Garcia as the winger sought to break free down the right. Actually the replay makes it look like he tried to grab Garcia's shirt but failed, though there may still have been a tangle of legs.

34 mins What a mess! Myhill sliced a backpass horribly off the outside of his boot and it looked for all the world as if Rooney was going to end up putting the ball into an open goal, but the ball sat up in the air long enough for the keeper to recover and force the striker into passing the ball back to Fletcher. That gave Myhill time to recover and the defence then blocked Fletcher's shot anyway, but the ball still seemed to ricochet around the Hull area for an age before eventually being hacked clear.

37 mins So far Man Utd have had five shots, but only two on target, while Hull have had three shots, all of which have been on target. Or at least that's what Sky tell me.

38 mins The cameras have just picked up Steve Bruce sat in the stands. I'm not going to lie, he looks bored.

39 mins Absolutely calamitous miss from Hunt. Olofinjana won possession in midfield and came striding forward to feed a totally unmarked Hunt racing into the left-hand side of the area. From 10 yards out Hunt opted for a simple side-footed finish but somehow managed to roll it right across the goal and wide of the far post by a good few yards.

40 mins United almost makes Hull pay for that miss, Berbatov racing onto a ball down the right channel but finding only the side netting from close range.

42 mins Stunning save from Myhill! Hull's players all stood and appealed for offside as Carric threaded the ball into Rafael, but the United full-back was in fact being played on by both Hull full-backs and his smartly-taken shot was arrowing right into the bottom corner before Myhill shot down to get a firm hand on it. United wanted a corner afterwards, but Berbatov clearly got the last touch as he attempted to stop Myhill from claiming the ball at the second attempt.

45 mins Hull win another free-kick just the right side of half-way - they've had a few of those today - but Mendy's long-ball forward is dealt with effectively enough by United.

45 mins (+1) We're going to have two minutes of injury time and United have just won a corner ... but it's headed clear

GOAL! Hull City 0-1 Manchester United (Rooney 45 mins (+2)) With just under a minute left in the first half Rooney breaks the deadlock, sliding the ball home from close range after Giggs had helped on Fletcher's cross from the right with a tidy little flick of the heel.

45 mins (+2) Almost immediately Hull pump a long ball forward to Altidore, who heads it down for himself before turning and letting fly with a volley from a good 25-yards out, but it's not quite clean enough and Kuszczak gets down to save.

Peepety-peeeep! That's half-time, and it's hard not to feel at least a little sorry for Hull. They gave as good as they got in that first half, but neither team looked entirely convincing at the back and you always suspected United were that little bit more likely to take their chances when they came. Back in a tick with some half-time thoughts and emails.

On home and away performances "I've heard it said in several US sporting contexts that star performers tend not to be influenced by venue but less talented players are," ponders Greg Crawford, a US ex-pat and self-professed 'football novice'. "If true (and it seems plausible), perhaps this is felt more keenly in football, where coordination of effort is presumably most important to good play (i.e. a team is only as strong as its weakest players)? Baseball is most dependent on individual performances and therefore has the weakest home-field advantage, although the same predictions for American football (some home-field advantage) and basketball (strong home-field advantage) don't exactly line up …"

On dressing rooms "Re your question as to why some teams play much better at home: if you've ever looked round the inside of a stadium you'll have noticed the blatant difference between the home dressing room (spacious, luxurious, well-equipped) and the away one (cramped, dark, claustrophobic). I went on a tour of one football team's ground where the guide claimed with an absolutely straight face that the away teams' lockers, which were tiny and awkwardly low down, had been deliberately placed to maximise the risk of injury to the opposition."

On a small box in Dartmoor "I am in the middle of nowhere on Dartmoor in Devon, standing as close as I can to the wireless internet box so I can follow this minute by minute, as so far this Christmas holiday I have been entirely deprived of any football-related action," whimpers Maudie Spurrier. "Hopefully Manchester United will make it worth the effort as I write this balancing in the most awkward of positions to get a stronger connection."

46 mins An ominous thought for Hull to start the half with: United have won every game this season in which they have had the lead at any point. No subs for either team at half-time.

48 mins Wiley gives Fagan a talking to after Fagan attempts to give Wiley a talking to. "I think Manchester United should only turn up to play added times," ho-hums Stephen in Brussels.

49 mins Altidore shows off a deft touch to create a yard of space in which to turn on the edge of the box, then a preposterously heavy one to pass the ball straight to the attendant United defender. From the sublime to the subpar in, quite literally, two easy steps.

51 mins Scrappy start to the second half so far, as both teams take turns to give the ball away. Hull's fans let out a loud ironic cheer as the flag goes up against Rooney for offside, then harangue Berbatov with a round of "what a waste of money".

53 mins Fletcher feigns his own death after Olofinjana treads on his foot inside the centre circle.

55 mins Olofinjana looks for Fagan with a direct but tidy ball forward from half-way but his team-mate can't quite get ahead of Wes Brown. The defender heads the ball back to Kuszczak, and Fagan then runs into the keeper for no good reason, which is fairly foolish for a man already on a yellow card. Wiley does not feel moved to punish him though.

57 mins "That's Altidore in a nutshell," sighs Chris in Maryland, USA, following my 'sublime to subpar comment (49 mins). "One minute he shows that he could be a player, but the next he goes and gives it away carelessly. He has carried a threat today, but in a typically haphazard way."

58 mins Penalty to Hull! Wayne Rooney's woeful backpass was seized on by Fagan, whose cross into the middle had hardly presented Altidore with the easiest of headers but Da Silva ran into the back of him and the striker goes down. Da Silva picks up a yellow card for the foul.

GOAL! Hull City 1-1 Manchester United (Fagan 59 mins) Geofanni's missed penalty was arguably the turning point in Hull's defeat to Arsenal, but Fagan makes no mistake, slotting the ball calmly into the bottom right corner after the keeper had already committed himself the other way.

62 mins Manchester United come sweeping forward with a predictably renewed energy, but here are still plenty of errors. Carrick chances his arm with a left-footed drive from just outside the D and though it was probably going wide, Myhill threw himself at it and pushed it behind to be safe.

63 mins The corner is met by a United player and seems to be looping it's way towards goal before Myhill, under pressure from Rooney just gets a finger to it and pushes it back over the bar.

64 mins And now Hull manage to clear Giggs's delivery from the far side.

65 mins Ji-Sung Park is on for Antonio Valencia. "Greg Crawford has clearly been an ex-pat for a long time," chortles Allan Castle as Altidore receives treatment following an aerial collision. "Basketball has not been played on a field since the mid 1980s."

66 mins So nearly a second goal for Hull, as Hunt's outswinging corner from the left is headed just wide of the far post by Garcia.

68 mins Evra risks a second yellow by kicking the ball away after United give away a free-kick inside their own half, but Wiley is obviously in a generous mood.

69 mins And Evra is even luckier to escape a second caution there after wrestling Fagan down as the Hull player tries to control a clearance on the half-way line. Wiley calls over Evra and Giggs and gives them both a talking to, but really he would have been welll within his rights to send the United player off.

GOAL! Hull City 1-2 Manchester United (Dawson og 73 mins) A lightning-fast break from United after the corner provides them with their second goal. It will go down as a Dawson own goal but in reality it's harsh on the defender, who had little hope of cutting out Wayne Rooney's square ball across the face of goal but equally will have known that Park was waiting behind him if he failed to cut it out.

76 mins Hull will once again feel hard done-by after controlling much of the play here in the second half, but once again it must be acknowledged that this is one of the key differences between the two teams: United have the sorts of players who only need one chance to score, whereas Hull have had plenty of opportunities yet only managed to find the net from the penalty spot.

78 mins Hull withdraw Garcia in favour of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, while United bring on Gabriel Obertan for Ryan Giggs.

79 mins An impressively optimistic shout for a penalty goes up from the home support as Vennegoor of Hesselink goes up for a ball in the area. I'd say it's going to have to be fairly clear-cut before Wiley considers giving another.

GOAL! Hull City 1-3 Manchester United (Berbatov 82 mins) That's just a wonderful pass from Rooney, who looks for a way past Zayatte, realises there isn't one and so instead just checks back and rolls slides an inch-perfect ball across to Berbatov on the far side of the box. The Bulgarian, who hadn't really done much in the game so far, makes no mistake from five yards out.

83 mins Hull were preparing a double substitution before that goal and now they've made it anyway - Geovanni and Kamel Ghilas coming on for Boateng and Altidore.

85 mins Fine chance for Mendy to reduce the arrears as Vennegoor of Hesselink gives him a clean run on goal with a neat backheel inside the area, but the Hull midfielder's shot finds only the side netting.

87 mins Carrick's attempted clearance cannons off Gardner and loops all the way over to Fagan on the far side of the box, but his first-time volley fizzes just wide.

89 mins Ghilas sees another effort deflect away over the bar and you certainly couldn't accuse Hull of a lack of effort in in this game. They've kept coming at United and if they were a bit more clinical in front of goal it might have been a very different result.

90 mins We'll have four minutes of added time.

90 mins (+2) Obertan thrashes the ball wide and high after from an acute angle - not sure if that was meant to be a cross or a shot to be honest.

Peep! Peep! Peeeeep! Hull win a pair of corners right at the death but United deal with both and tie up a win that takes them back to second in the Premier League - now just two points behind Chelsea at the top. The scoreline is harsh on Hull, and they might reasonably point out both that they should have had another penalty and that Evra could easily have been sent off with the score level at 1-1, but they also must take stock of their own failure to convert chances into more goals. For now they remain 19th. Thanks for all your emails, sorry I couldn't use more.