Evening all, and welcome to Manchester United's season, also known as Jose Mourinho's reputation. Make a mess of this and both are in shtuck; find a way to make ti work and both are set.

Anderlecht are causing the greater aggravation so far; United are struggling to get the ball moving in midfield, and have barely been able to find Mkhitaryan, their most likely creator. In the meantime, Anderlecht force consecutive corners, the second of which is hacked clear by Bailly. The ball then comes straight back, but Thelin wandered offside.

Long ball over the top from Valencia sees Lingard, whose movement is as sharp as ever. It takes Nuytinck and Obradovic to see him out, at cost of a corner which comes to nothing.

"If they'd converted some of those draws to wins, United might be in with a chance of winning the Premier League."

Similarly, if my auntie had wheels she'd be a garbage truck.

Clever pass from Pogba, lifting one around the corner for Lingard, who can't quite catch up with it.

Acheampong finds space on the left and tries a low shot, but pulls it wide and then some, but not wide enough for Thelin, loitering in the middle, to touch it in.

Appiah goes down the right at pace, but Rashford sticks with him, sliding in to block his cross and scooping the bonus of a ricochet which wins him a goalkick.

Having once played for a team whose kit was similar to Anderlecht's, I know for sure that they'll soon be shouting "get a purple head on it" to distract their opponents.

Cant't believe Pogba hasn't scored 17 times yet, pathetic. Complete waste of money. But there he is, lofting one of his patented long passes over the top and down the middle for Rashford; it's just too long.

Stanciu lifts a ball forward for Acheampong but Romero is alert to the threat, haring out of his goal only to slice his clearance so badly it flies out for a corner. That comes to nowt, but this has the makings of an acceptable game.

Ibrahimovic drops off and takes possession at inside-right, slotting a ball towards Rashford, on the move well in advance. But Kara is paying attention, and steals across to tackle.

Dendoncker gets down the left and cuts back a decent low cross for Bruno. He totally misses his kick, and United escape.

The current iteration of Anderlecht's kit is almost blue; it really ought to mauver.

There's a good row in the ground as play shuttles up and down the touchline to little avail.

Anderlecht get us underway!

Anyway, the players are out. The Europa League anthem is playing, to the excitement of no one.

Oh dear. Aggravation at Lyon-Besiktas - away fans in the upper tier are chucking stuff onto the home ones below, some of whom are taking refuge on the pitch.

the players are almost upon us. As it were.

Little Roberto Martinez is very keen on Youri Tielemans, who at 19 has played more than 100 games for his club. Presumably he'll be off in the summer, and will have plenty of options, but presumably it'll be hard for any club to attract him if they're not offering a starting place.

"If I can win it in Sweden maybe we make another statue on the other side of the stadium." Zlatan isn't as good as he thinks he is, but he is a funny so-and-so.

"The Europa League became the Champions League since I put my foot there," says Zlatan.