Hello and welcome to live coverage of Manchester United vs Stoke City.

Borthwick-Jackson fouls Walters on the right. Stoke take it short, and build in midfield.

Afellay's shot from deep loops off Mata, and De Gea has to leap across to stop it going out for a corner.

Rooney does well to make space, dragging the ball away from a defender, and he sends a curling shot towards goal but Butland is equal to it.

More Stoke possession. We live in a world where Stoke are a better side than Manchester United. Pieters clears under pressure from Lingard.

Martial does well to make room for a cross on the left, but his header finds Fellaini, who isn't very good at football. Stoke win possession and dwell on the ball, getting used to actually having it.

Martial cuts in from the left onto his right foot. He finds Mata, lurking on the edge of the box, but it's deflected for a corner on the left. Blind takes, Stoke clear.

United manage to keep things goalless in the first minute.

I think Stoke are favourites for this, and I'd be slightly surprised if they didn't win it. Let me know what you think.

Elsewhere, it has been reported that Jose Mourinho is the favourite to take over at Manchester United. You would expect that to go through eventually, so it's impressive they will probably wait 'til the summer, after they will have failed to qualify for the Champions League.

If you'd like to send comments for me to use during the game then you can do so at @lxndrnthrtn on Twitter.

Stoke have Peter Crouch playing, perhaps to make it even funnier when they comprehensively beat United tonight.

The spectre of Marouane Fellaini continues to haunt Manchester United. Realistically, playing Fellaini in midfield and dropping Herrera - despite his faults, there's no need to pretend he is perfect - should be a sackable offence. Luckily for Louis van Gaal, he knows Ed Woodward can't and won't sack him yet.

Leslie Hughes had this to say: "The likes of Marko Arnautovic, Jon Walters and Glen Johnson missed out at the weekend because they weren't fit. They had a light session today and if they don't get a reaction to that they should be available."

“I’m not a stupid man,” Van Gaal said, as he missed the point about how Manchester United (and other) fans act. “I’m an intelligent man and I cannot predict the atmosphere on Tuesday. I hope that we can give the same level of performance as against Derby but we have to play Stoke, another opponent. I’m always honest. That wasn’t an exception [the reaction during the Saints game] but OK.

“It’s not important that they yell at me. It’s more that they are supporting the players, that’s the most important thing. The players have the most difficult task. They have to give a result at that hour with that resistance [of Stoke]. There are no excuses. They have to support – the fans.

“When I’m not so popular, then OK. It’s also not the first time that it’s happened with me but I can survive. They supported us fantastically against Derby. I have heard more the fans of United than of Derby. We are the away team. It’s also fantastic that there is such a big part coming to see ‘boring’ Manchester United.”

TEAMS: Manchester United: De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson, Fellaini, Carrick, Lingard, Mata, Martial, Rooney. Subs: Romero, McNair, Varela, Schneiderlin, Herrera, Pereira, Memphis. /// Stoke City: Butland, Johnson, Wollscheid, Muniesa, Pieters, Whelan, Afellay, Arnautovic, Bojan, Walters, Crouch. Subs: Haugaard, Bardsley, Ireland, Odemwingie, Joselu, Diouf, Shaqiri.