90+2 min: West Brom are standing tall as United play ball after ball into the box. Van persie has a shot blocked by Yacob and Lescott does likewise as Rooney prepars to shoot. Baird heads clear with Van Persie lurking and the jig could be up for United.

90 min: Mata finds Di Maria on the edge of the box. The No7, takes a touch and hammers a shot at goal that Myhill does really well to tip over after watching it swerve slightly on to his gloves. That was a powerful effort.

89 min: Myhill makes a fantastic save to his left from a beautifully struck shot from Van Persie that skids off the turf and seems destined for the far corner. They’re not going to get this equaliser are they?

88 min: Di Maria’s having a busy old time of it. He’s just overhit a pass, as if to show it’s not just crosses he can eff up. He looked so revved up when he came on. He won’t want the ball again now.

87 min: Di Maria gets another chance. This time he balloons his cross behind goal in the fashion of a tubby pub-standard full-back. Van Gaal mutters something under his breath. “How much?” perhaps.

86 min: United work the ball out to Di Maria on the left, but with acres of space he curls a tame ball into Myhill’s grateful arms at the near post. That was a sorry attempt at a cross.

84 min: Brown Ideye wins a free-kick after a late tackle in midfield from Herrera. That should help relieve some of the pressure. Pulis barks some instructions at his team, presumably “don’t you dare attack.”

82 min: Berahino off. YouTube’s Brown Ideye on for West Brom. And Paddy McNair off, Radamel Falcao on for United.

81 min: Liverpool must be kicking themselves after United’s recent results. Van Gaal left the door ajar and Liverpool have crept around it, unable to find a way in. West Brom have put out the United fire that was threatening to result in another goal. They’ve regrouped and now look composed and solid once more.

80 min: “Not much is certain in life, but we can count on one thing for sure: an ill-advised Mayweather-Pacquiao re-enactment in the Rooney household kitchen on Sunday morning,” reckons Peter Oh. Who’ll knock him out this time? Coleen?

78 min: West Brom are defending like this is a cup semi-final. Gardner throws himself in front of Van Persie’s strike from the edge of the box – and then Yacob clears aster a melée ensues.

76 min: McNair has a free header at the back post. He should score. He doesn’t. This could be one of those days for United. They’re looking at a third loss in a row.

74 min: There’s an almighty scramble in the box as Van Persie shoots at goal only to see his shot blocked. The ball arrives invitingly in front of Fellaini, but he opts to go square to Mata on the penalty spot when a shot looked the much more tempting option. West Brom scramble it clear. And still United come …

70 min: United haven’t scored a goal in a long, long time now. Their attacks so far have been a little too predictable. It needs a little bit of magic from one of their creators. Di Maria tries to work something with a pass across goal to the back post but it’s cut out. And then …

67 min: “Knockout!” screeches a rather pleased-with-himself Peter Young. Meanwhile, Mata makes a good run into the box to latch on to a dinked pass from Van Persie but he can’t conjure the touch required to give his resulting shot any power. In the end his effort spins harmlessly over.

66 min: McNair was booked for the foul that led to the free-kick earlier. It was a silly one to give away. United fans scream for a handball as Mata slams a cross into Lescott’s right hand. It wasn’t an intentional handball but I’ve seen them given. His hand wasn’t pulled in enough for my liking. Blind is off and Di Maria is on. Young goes back to left-back, which is a shame as he’s been a threat for United.

65 min: Pulis is just backing that bus up a little bit further.

60 min: Herrera drives a shot at goal from 25 yards but it skids wide. Then West Brom win a free-kick after a cynical block on Fletcher by McNair 20 yards out.

59 min: United are building up a head of steam here. They’re switching play sharper and with more menace. Fellaini has been pushed forwards too. If he can help hold the ball up and United get enough bodies around him they’ll have a much better chance of unlocking that mean defence.

58 min: A replay shows Gardner was lucky not to have given a penalty away. His legs clattered into Fellaini’s in an earlier attack as the Belgian broke into the box, but the awkward way in which Fellaini fell to the floor probably made it look like an innocuous coming together.

55 min: Van Gaal’s side are still gamely prodding and probing but so far there’s been little end-product. Rooney and Young both throw a couple of deep crosses into the box that are scrambled away. United come again …

53 min: Dawson beats Blind in a crunching tackle inside United’s half. He turns inside and feeds Gardner. He knocks the ball out of his feet and has a shy from 25 yards, but he doesn’t get any bend on his shot and it flies harmlessly past De Gea’s right-hand post. Moments later Van Persie tries his luck from 25 yards but there’s about as much power in it as my moble phone (6% in case you’re wondering).

51 min: A poor header from Craig Gardner presents the ball to Blind, who strikes cleanly at goal from 18 yards, only for Fellaini to lumber sideways and in its path to prevent it bothering Myhill. He’s then given offside to add to United’s frustration.

50 min: Fight-chat! “I’m going to stay up with some pals and watch the fight tonight. But I fear some Don King-style trickeration will make it end in a draw, and force the inevitability of a lucrative rematch,” predicts Justin Kavanagh. “A bit like these two teams probably producing a draw today: Even when they scored 10 goals between them a few seasons back it ended in stalemate.” Ten goals? What I’d do for just the one to liven this up.

49 min: Some neat possession play from United leads to Herrera tapping a ball in front of Rooney, 25 yards from goal. The captain’s eyes light up and he thunks a shot at goal that is almost too true. Right off the sweet spot and straight down Myhill’s throat with barely a hint of wavering in its flightpath.

48 min: West Brom regroup. That might be that from them for attacking intent this half.

46 min: Mulumbu tries to slide Brunt down the inside-left channel, but his run is blocked off and United concede a corner. It followed a pretty nervy start from United in which McNair walloped a clearance straight at Berahino. De Gea claims the corner and United break …

“One again United demonstrate that possession means nout unless it results in production,” writes Peter Young, who likes his product to be cold, hard goals. “It’s like a continual body pounding that risks ending with a counter-attacking knockout straight to the jaw.” Only Pulis has set his West Brom team up to play with their arms behind their backs. So I can’t see where a KO could possibly come from. Lescott’s head maybe?

So, Tony Pulis is winning after that first half.

“Re 30 mins, is it Nigel Pearson v John Carver?” asks Charles Antaki. That would probably be exciting.

44 min: Valencia has a pop from the cutest of angles. Well, I say it’s a pop, it may well be a cross. The upshot of which is Myhill punching clear to Herrera on the edge of the box, who tries a scissor-kick from 20 yards out that goes well over.

43 min: Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass. Huff, puff, puff, puff. (Drums fingers).

41 min: Young has a pop at goal after drifting in from the left wing and walloping one at goal from 20 yards. It clatters into a defender and arrives at Van Persie … but then gets away from him. That was quite exciting. Which is saying very little. Pulis has strangled this game. Not blaming him – a point would be handy. But by god, it’s tough viewing.

40 min: “Is there a fight on? asks Stephen Gibb.

38 min: Yacob and Fellaini are involved in a tangle in midfield. Fellaini gets his body across the Agentinian and wins possession, he’s then dragged back and wins a foul, but as they tumble to the turf he shoves Yacob off him. The West Brom player holds his face as though he’s been punched. It’s a bit embarrassing. He’s 27 years old.

35 min: Berahino may as well be in the chippy. The balls forwards to him are just aimless punts. He really isn’t cut out to play the lone striker role. He’s small, nippy but lacks any physicality. Anichebe would be a better option if they want someone to hold the ball up for long enough to get some support.

32 min: Blind, Rooney and Van Persie combine nicely as they play the ball along the West Brom wall. The ball is squirted out to Fellaini by Van Persie and the big Belgian slams the ball into the onrushing defender to win a corner. It’s a decent ball in by Rooney, that lands on the penalty spot and bounces around for a bit among some thrashing legs, before someone’s boot hoofs it clear.

30 min: Did I really say this could be a decent game? I was a much more optimistic person an hour ago. Is anyone watching the fight later? Are you staying up for it and getting half cut or opting for the early-night, early-morning option? I’m going for the latter, because my daughter has taken to waking up at 5.30am, so not much difference for me.

28 min: Against all odds Mulumbu wins a corner. Lescott connects on the back post but his header lands on the top-netting. The ball was behind him. Hard to get those neck muscles into it. That’s the second time he’s been free though.

27 min: Rooney sends a raking pass whistling all of 40 yards through the Old Trafford air to pick out Mata. He plays a neat one-two with Herrera and Lescott almost lets the little Spaniard in on goal after having a senior moment and spinning 360 as he loses his bearings. Myhill saves him any opprobrium as he races out to collect. Phew.

25 min: West Brom waste a rare chance from a free-kick inside the United half and then United break and Olsson makes a frantic block as Van Persie hammers a shot at goal from the edge of the box. United regain possession. Here we go again …

22 min: Dawson sends a long ball arcing towards Berahino, who has resembled a lonely goat in a big old field thus far. There’s not much he can do with that and United win back possession.

20 min: Young’s on it all right. He throws in a couple of stepovers and bamboozles Dawson (he’s looking very much the square peg in a round hole) in the left-hand corner before curling a cross into the near post that Myhill is alert enough to cut out before it can reach Van Persie.

18 min: Fellaini gets the better of Yacob in midfield and sends the ball out to Young. The winger drops his shoulder and races to the byline before cutting back a clever cross to Van Persie who, 10 yards out, connects crisply with his instep but sends the ball just wide of the left-hand post. Great play from Young, who looks to be United’s best chance of finding holes in West Brom’s defence.

16 min: Herrera whips a low pass in to Van Persie’s feet on the edge of the box. The striker swivels and shoots low at goal from 18 yards, Myhill should hold it but opts for excitement and parries to Ashley Young instead. His shot is deflected over. Myhill was lucky not to be punished for that. Poor goalkeeping.

14 min: United afford Lescott a free header at goal from that corner. He was stretching back so couldn’t generate much power and it went straight at De Gea. That was sloppy from the United defence.

13 min: West Brom win a corner. Mulumbu slams the ball against McNair after a (very) rare foray forwards.

11 min: A two-minute spell of possession results in a corner for United, when Young is shown inside by Dawson, he takes the invite gratefully and skips into the box before flashing a shot at goal that is deflected out for a corner. The corner’s wasted.

8 min: Hererra robs Fletcher of possession by the halfway line. Fellaini plays a one-two with Valencia and then spreads play over to the left-hand side where Young collects it. The wall regroups though and the ball is fed back out to Herrera, who begins the next spell of possession 35 yards in front of West Brom’s defence and midfield. Finally, Dawson nicks possession and West Brom win a throw after a ball forwards towards Berahino is cut out. Possession stats so far: Man Utd 86%. West Brom 14%

6 min: United are starting to dominate possession, with Herrera, Rooney and Mata prodding and probing just in front of the West Brom wall. And what a wall it is. It’s up there with some of Pulis’s finest. This could be a long afternoon.

5 min: There’s a huge round of applause for Rio Ferdinand – and chanting – from both sets of fans in the fifth minute in recognition of the former Man Utd No5 after the tragic news that his wife died from cancer today.

3 min: Gardner swings it in but Fellaini does his job diligently and rises highest to head clear. The ball drops to Fletcher, returning to Old Trafford for the first time since leaving, but his shot is heading for – at my estimation – row 27. Yup, near enough.

2 min: It’s a slow start by both sides. Young concedes a free-kick for a sneaky nudge on Brunt. It’s 40 yards out on the right but, with West Brom’s height, this is a decent chance for a good ball into the box.

The United fans chant Rio Ferdinand’s name in support of the former United centre-back who today sadly lost his wife, Rebecca Ellison, to cancer.

A victory for United already! The teams trot out on to the pitch at Old Trafford. And what a pitch! Tony, the groundsman, has just been handed a gong by Van Gaal for having kept the best Premier League pitch all season. Well done Tony. Top turf.

Stat!

“So if United win 7-0 or at least by seven goals Villa go above Albion , is that going to happen?” asks John Tumbridge who, having been privy to that Pulis team news, clearly has tongue firmly in cheek.

Tony Pulis has just bristled at suggestions that Dawson and Lescott have ever been centre-backs. Really.

“That lineup Pulis has put out is as ugly as homemade soup. This is going to suck,” predicts JR in Illinois, who has clearly never made this …

It will be interesting to see how Van Persie goes about his business today. His future, along with Falcao and Di Maria (both on the bench today), is a matter of discussion and he’ll want to find form before the season’s up. He may have to put up with a bit of rough stuff. Dawson, McAuley, Olsson and Lescott can all play centre-half – they’re all around 6ft 3in too. He’ll either have to be very clever or very tough.

Louis van Gaal has just been speaking at Old Trafford. He bemoaned his side’s luck against Everton. He also reckons they didn’t warm up properly at Goodison. More star jumps required today, then. He also admitted that his side aren’t the best on corners and lack height. I’m not sure I’d want to be saying that before playing a Tony Pulis side.

Feast your eyes on these sepia-tinted highlights …

There was a ding-dong battle in 1978.

Traditional fish and chip shop? That banner suggests you can buy ciggies and Budweiser.

Steven Gerrard, having missed a penalty earlier, has nodded home a corner at Anfield to put Liverpool back in front. If they win, they’ll be four points behind United. It’s not too worrying, but it does mean they could do with not slipping up today.

So then, Robin van Persie is back in the starting XI for United. I’m not going to try and second-guess United’s formation. Rooney will probably be much deeper than I’d imagine him to be. As for Pulis’s side, that looks very much like a bus – not quite parked across the 18-yard box – but perhaps just about 10 yards further forwards.

Evening. There’s still just enough riding on this for both teams that it promises to be a decent enough match. West Brom could still do with a point or two to ensure they don’t fall into the moat with the poor folk at the bottom of the Premier League fighting among one another in an attempt to clamber up on to the drawbridge and into Castle Safety. Meanwhile over at Castle Big Time, Manchester United need to give the drawbridge a little nudge to make sure Liverpool don’t pounce on an (extremely) outside chance to sneak in with Arsenal, Man City and Chelsea. More likely, United will want to turn it on today to put that Everton defeat behind them. Louis van Gaal called it a one-off. He’ll want to prove that with a performance more in line with the solid displays that fuelled the fine form that led to them pulling away in fourth place over the past couple of months.

For all the talk about West Brom being more resilient under Tony Pulis, away from home they’ve mostly been dreadful (the win at Crystal Palace aside). They have good memories of this fixture from last season though, when they won 2-1 and Berahino got transfer antennae twitching at other clubs with a stellar display. He’s been linked with United – among many other teams – recently. So United’s defence might want to keep an eye on him today. They don’t want him getting any ideas and impressing Van Gaal too much.

Fans of both Manchester United and West Brom plan to applaud in the fifth minute today to show their support for Rio Ferdinand, whose wife Rebecca Ellison sadly died today, aged just 34, after a battle with cancer.

Team news shortly …

Gregg will be here shortly.