West Brom 0-2 Manchester United: Premier League - as it happened

That is all from me for now, but be sure to join my IBTimes UK colleague Tony Mogan tomorrow as he brings you live coverage of Tottenham vs Burnley and the small matter of a showdown between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

Goodnight.

West Brom were thoroughly outclassed by a much better and more expensively-assembled team tonight, but should not be too despondent after an impressive recent run that leaves them in a good position at Christmas.

A tough trip to Arsenal is next on the agenda before a New Year's Eve fixture at Southampton.

A comfortable night in the end for United, who have now won each of their last four games in all competitions. They are also unbeaten in 10 matches since that Europa League defeat to Fenerbahce in early November.

Ibrahimovic is once again the man of the moment. The 35-year-old continues to bely his advancing years and has now scored 16 goals since moving to Old Trafford, including a run of 10 in his last nine appearances.

Plenty of momentum heading into the festive period for Mourinho's side, who remain sixth but draw level on points with Tottenham ahead of the latter's clash with Burnley tomorrow.

Next up for United is a Boxing Day visit from relegation candidates Sunderland and old manager David Moyes. They close out 2016 at home to Middlesbrough and begin the New Year at West Ham before an FA Cup reunion with Reading boss Jaap Stam and an EFL Cup semi-final first-leg tie against Hull.

Full-time

West Brom 0-2 Manchester United

United keep the ball with ease in the West Brom half. Rashford tries to bend a shot into the bottom corner but crashes the ball into McAuley.

Herrera is the man to make way for Smalling. This is the centre-back's first appearance since that 4-0 defeat at Chelsea on 23 October.

The fourth official signals four minutes of added time as Smalling prepares to enter the fray for United.

Brunt smashes Rashford with an incredibly cynical bodycheck and is rightfully booked.

Leko skins Darmian down the West Brom right, only to see his cross headed clear. That was an impressive burst of pace from the youngster.

"If Fellaini scores, we're on the pitch" is the chant from the away fans.

They continue to sing his name, perhaps to show two fingers to those who booed the divisive Belgian when he came out to warm up against Tottenham at Old Trafford last weekend.

Rooney's wait to go level with the great Sir Bobby Charlton on 249 United goals continues as his number goes up.

He hands his armband to Carrick and jogs off to be replaced by Marouane Fellaini.

Pulis uses up his remaining substitutions with a double swap. Hal Robson-Kanu and 17-year-old forward Jonathan Leko come on for Phillips and Chadli.

Less than 10 minutes remaining for that duo to make an impact.

Pogba combines well with Ibrahimovic before lashing a shot over the crossbar. That was always rising.

West Brom have a chance to get decent service into the box after Nyom is brought down by Darmian. However, United stand firm to clear their lines.

Lingard makes way for Marcus Rashford.

With a little over 15 minutes plus stoppage time remaining, Pulis finally makes his first change of the match.

Morrison replaces Dawson and Brunt switches to left-back.

Great block from Darmian to thwart a volley from Phillips.

West Brom appeal for a penalty after McAuley's header hits the arm of a leaping Pogba, but referee Taylor is unmoved.

That would have been very harsh.

West Brom win a free-kick in a good area, but McAuley and Fletcher are both caught offside.

Phillips then crudely barges over Darmian and Pogba shoots straight at Foster.

Ibrahimovic looks to have chimed in on that Rondon/Rojo row and he will need to be careful having already been booked for clattering Dawson. Rooney is called over to help calm proceedings.

The Rondon vs Rojo/Jones battle continues.

Rondon sparks an argument after a push to the chest of Rojo. Jones then gets involved before Rondon appears to slap the Argentine.

Both players are shown yellow cards, but Rondon can count himself very fortunate that the referee didn't see that hand to the face. He surely would been off otherwise.

An irate Pulis yells in despair after Phillips, having strayed fractionally beyond Rojo, is flagged for offside after being sent scampering towards the byline by Rondon.

Nothing is coming off for West Brom at the moment.

These two teams were separated by only one place and four points in the table before kick-off, but United are clearly a cut above their opponents.

Ibrahimovic receives possession from Rooney and exploits the gap between Phillips and McAuley before driving home via a massive deflection off Dawson.

West Brom have a real mountain to climb now.

Goal: West Brom 0-2 Manchester United (Zlatan Ibrahimovic)

Paul Pogba, certainly not a player who lacks confidence in his own abilities, spots Foster off his line and tries to beat the goalkeeper with an audacious effort from a long way out.

Thankfully for West Brom, his shot lacks the appropriate dip.

A gorgeous first touch from Rooney leads to the United skipper winning a corner off McAuley. Rondon then rises highest to head clear.

Ibrahimovic is penalised for an apparent shove on Olsson and Mourinho leaps out of his seat to engage the fourth official.

Brunt also berates the referee's assistant after scything down Darmian. The Italian full-back initially made a good block to snuff out a West Brom attack.

It's been a somewhat combative start to the second period. Dawson comes through the back of Ibrahimovic and receives a caution for his troubles.

Ibrahimovic gets the second half underway. No changes from Pulis or Mourinho as of yet.

Taylor was treated to a very hostile reception by the home crowd on his way back to the dressing rooms at half-time. West Brom have been very unhappy with some of his decisions, particularly regarding Rojo and Jones' rather physical approach to containing Rondon.

They also clearly felt that Ibrahimovic should have been dismissed for bulldozing Dawson.

United deservedly lead at half-time through Ibrahimovic's 15th goal of the season after just five minutes. It's been a comfortable evening so far for the visitors, who have largely dominated possession and should have doubled their advantage but for a fine save from Foster to deny Rooney his big moment and a loss of composure from the otherwise impressive Lingard.

Plenty of endeavour from West Brom, as you would expect given their positive home record, but they have struggled to create much going forward aside from a few long-range shots and Rondon's disappointing header.

Work to do for Pulis.

Half-time

West Brom 0-1 Manchester United

Dawson makes a crucial header to keep the ball away from Ibrahimovic. United keep the attack alive and Lingard lashes a shot over after an initial miskick from Darmian. That probably should have been 2-0.

Just the one minute of added time to be played at the end of this first half.

Rondon takes a brilliant touch and then looks perplexed that he hasn't been awarded a free-kick after a clash with Rojo. Taylor is not interested.

Dawson beats Rooney to the byline and picks out Brunt. The ball eventually finds its way to Fletcher via some nice incisive passing, but the West Brom skipper fluffs his shot and the attack eventually breaks down.

Phillips attempts to test De Gea with a right-footed effort that is dragged some way wide.

Good defending from Jones to head Dawson's early cross away from Phillips.

Herrera took a painful blow a few moments ago while blocking an attempted pass from Rondon, but he looks fine to continue.

Ibrahimovic looks to play Rooney in behind Olsson but Foster is alert to the danger.

At the other end, tricky winger Matt Phillips, who embarrassed Jones with a nice nutmeg a few minutes ago, creates space down the left for a cross. Rondon rises well but fails to make a solid connection and ends up heading well wide.

You would have expected him to do better with that opportunity, especially after Wednesday night's header heroics that left Alan Shearer salivating.

West Brom try to apply some pressure of their own but De Gea is equal to Brunt's quick shot after a nice turn from Chadli.

United still lead 1-0 at the 30-minute mark.

Quality and controversy. You know you are likely to get both when Ibrahimovic is around.

Angered West Brom fans plead for a red card after the veteran frontman recklessly barrels into Dawson and leaves him in a crumpled heap on the grass. Taylor immediately signals his intention by producing a yellow card.

Crossbar!

Rooney comes agonisingly close to equalling Charlton's record with a powerful strike that is tipped onto the woodwork by Foster. Fine save.

Some nifty approach play from United there. Ander Herrera bypasses Claudio Yacob with a lovely backheel before Rooney's low pass towards Ibrahimovic is intercepted by Fletcher.

The goal-scorer is a little too eager in his attempts to win back possession in the West Brom box and is quickly whistled for a foul.

Ibrahimovic looks to be in again before being flagged for offside. There's certainly nothing amiss with regards to his energy levels tonight.

Brunt wins a corner off Rojo and produces an inviting delivery for Olsson that is flicked dangerously towards the back post before rolling out of play.

That was a chance.

Almost a chance for United to double their lead but Dawson is on hand to block Rooney's header from another Lingard cross. Olsson clears the corner.

Despite a positive opening, West Brom find themselves behind inside five minutes.

Valencia releases Lingard with a lofted pass down the right flank and the recalled midfielder takes a brief glance at the penalty area before producing a wonderful first-time cross that is headed expertly past Foster by Ibrahimovic. McAuley was left trailing in his wake.

That is the Swede's ninth goal in nine games. What a start.

Goal: West Brom 0-1 Manchester United (Zlatan Ibrahimovic)

Lingard wants a penalty after a relatively innocuous coming together with Allan Nyom. His appeals are rightly waved away.

West Brom look to start on the front foot. They keep possession well and probe patiently before Chris Brunt sees a long-range drive blocked by Michael Carrick.

Chadli then balloons a shot well over the crossbar.

Referee Anthony Taylor gets us off and running under the lights at The Hawthorns. Wearing their red home shirts with black shorts and socks, United are kicking from right to left in this opening 45 minutes.

Can they notch a fourth consecutive victory in all competitions, or will West Brom continue their impressive recent run?

British, Commonwealth and WBO inter-continental middleweight boxing champion and West Brom supporter Tommy Langford is a special guest today...

Rojo, minus his penchant for two-footed tackles, and Jones have impressed as a pairing of late, but will have their hands full tonight against Salomon Rondon. The powerful Venezuelan striker notched a hat-trick of headers against Swansea in midweek and also scored the winning goal the last time these two teams faced off in March.

Juan Mata was booked twice inside three first-half minutes to leave Louis van Gaal's United with 10 men for most of that 1-0 defeat.

The Spaniard netted a stoppage-time penalty in a 2-0 win over the Baggies at Old Trafford in November 2015 after Gareth McAuley was dismissed for fouling Martial. Lingard also curled home his first senior goal for the club shortly after the interval and Berahino spurned a great late chance to equalise.

A few players will reach personal milestones during tonight's match. Phil Jones is set to make his 150th appearance for United, while Darmian reaches the 50 mark.

For West Brom, Jonas Olsson and Nacer Chadli will be featuring in their 200th and 100th top-flight games respectively.

Sunderland have moved off the foot of the table courtesy of Patrick van Aanholt's winner against Watford. They are replaced by Hull, who went down 1-0 at West Ham despite hitting the woodwork three times.

Mark Noble scored from the penalty spot after Tom Huddlestone was harshly adjudged to have brought down Michail Antonio.

Let's pause for a moment to bring you fully up to date with the rest of this afternoon's Premier League results.

The pressure continues to mount on Swansea boss Bob Bradley after his porous defence conceded for fun yet again during a 3-0 defeat to Middlesbrough. Alvaro Negredo notched an early brace at the Riverside Stadium and a comfortable win was wrapped up by a second-half effort from Marten de Roon.

Elsewhere, 10-man Leicester recovered from a 2-0 deficit to draw at Stoke. Jamie Vardy was controversially dismissed for a two-footed tackle on Mame Biram Diouf and the hosts looked to be in cruise control thanks to Bojan Krkic's penalty and a goal from Joe Allen. However, Leonardo Ulloa and Daniel Amartey both struck to secure a late point for the champions.

35-year-old ever-present Zlatan Ibrahimovic leads the line for the visitors again today after being hailed as undroppable by Mourinho thanks to a run of eight goals in as many games - including a late winner against Palace - that has come after a mini six-game drought.

"Tomorrow is a last effort and then they will have a week without football," Mourinho said of his fitness yesterday. "That week is a week that my players need, especially a guy like him – a striker. Sometimes in other positions you can protect yourself a little bit more with experience and with position but a striker is one of the impossible positions where you cannot hide.

"So he is doing phenomenal. Tomorrow he is going to play again but obviously he cannot play matches. I must give him a rest. But as our target striker we can say that he is the only one and the way we normally play we need him."

Mourinho makes two alterations to his backline, with Bailly and Daley Blind replaced by Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian. Jesse Lingard also gets the nod over Juan Mata after his energetic midweek cameo at Selhurst Park.

Smalling takes a seat on the bench alongside Anthony Martial as Mourinho keeps faith with the centre-back pairing of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo, but there is no place for Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ashley Young or Timothy Fosu-Mensah.

Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay are also left out amid rumours that they are both set to sign for Everton during the January transfer window.

Captain Wayne Rooney remains one short of matching Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time record of 249 United goals.

With Evans ruled out, Pulis makes one change to his starting XI. James Morrison drops to the bench in favour of Craig Dawson, who has now served his one-match ban for collecting five yellow cards.

Myhill is surprisingly deemed fit enough for the bench and he takes over back-up duties from Alex Palmer. Fellow youngster Rekeem Harper is also relegated from the matchday squad.

Even without Evans, West Brom's squad still features two United old boys in goalkeeper Ben Foster and captain Darren Fletcher.

Manchester United XI: De Gea, Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Darmian, Carrick, Herrera, Lingard, Pogba, Rooney (c), Ibrahimovic

Subs: Romero, Blind, Smalling, Fellaini, Mata, Martial, Rashford

West Brom XI: Foster, Dawson, McAuley, Olsson, Nyom, Yacob, Fletcher (c), Brunt, Chadli, Phillips, Rondon

Subs: Myhill, Robson-Kanu, Morrison, Gardner, McClean, Galloway, Leko

The teams are in....

Eric Bailly will also be absent today after being forced off against Palace - a game he started at right-back - with a knee injury.

The issue does not concern the same knee in which he damaged ligaments at Chelsea before spending 11 weeks in the treatment room and both the player and Mourinho have now confirmed that it is not as serious as first thought.

It is hoped that he will be able to return either for the Boxing Day visit of Sunderland to Old Trafford or a New Year's Eve clash with Middlesbrough.

"No surgery," the manager said. "We thought maybe meniscus by the movement on the pitch but it's a question to see the evolution and hopefully we have him for the last two [home] matches [of the year against Sunderland and Middlesbrough]."

United, meanwhile, are set to be boosted today by the return of Chris Smalling from a badly broken toe. The England centre-back has not played since producing a woeful individual performance during a 4-0 defeat at Chelsea in October following a bizarre injury saga in which Mourinho appeared to question the commitment of both him and defensive colleague Luke Shaw.

Shaw remains out today due to a groin problem, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan continues to be sidelined with an ankle issue. The Armenian playmaker, who has finally won a place in Mourinho's affections after a period of frustrating exile, was stretchered off after scoring the winning goal in last weekend's narrow win over Tottenham following a heavy late challenge from Danny Rose.

Young striker James Wilson has been lost for the season after undergoing surgery on a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered while on loan with Championship promotion hopefuls Derby County.

However, right-back Antonio Valencia is available again after serving a one-match suspension.

Along with Myhill, another player who won't feature for West Brom today is Saido Berahino. The controversial striker made his first appearance for the U23 side during a 1-0 defeat to Wolves in Kidderminster on Monday night after being put on an individual training regime.

Berahino, who is out of contract in the summer and will likely be subject to yet more transfer speculation in January despite a poor campaign, also recently spent time at a conditioning camp in France in a bid to improve his fitness.

"He played a U23 game on Monday and he needs more games, we need to get him more game time," Pulis said. "Fingers crossed, he'll stay with us. But the window opens again and you just don't know what's going to happen.

"He most probably needs another couple of games before we can get him involved. We don't want to put him in and [have] him pick an injury up or do something that will set him back again."

Before we get official wind of today's starting lineups, let's run you through all the latest team news.

Versatile Baggies defender Jonny Evans was expected to undergo a fitness test to determine his eligibility for this clash against his former club. The dependable Northern Ireland international missed Wednesday's 3-1 win over Swansea due to a calf problem picked up at Chelsea last weekend.

Back-up goalkeeper Boaz Myhill remains out with an ankle injury sustained in training last month, but Pulis was notably coy on any other potential absentees.

"We've got one or two little knocks and niggles and we'll assess them this afternoon," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference on Friday. "We'll do a light session this afternoon, see how they get through that and then we'll pick the team from there."

When pushed on the identity of those players who may need to be assessed, he added: "There's just a couple who have got slight knocks. I think they'll all want to play, but then it's just picking the ones that we think will be right for us in a three-game week against a team that's going to make you work for the ball. We're going to have to pick players who are right on it fitness wise as well as anything else."

Good afternoon and welcome to IBTimes UK's latest live coverage of the Premier League.

We've already seen dominant leaders Chelsea open up a nine-point gap over their title rivals and seal a club-record equalling 11th successive top-flight win over London rivals Crystal Palace earlier today, but now our focus shifts to The Hawthorns for a meeting between two in-form teams in West Brom and Jose Mourinho's Manchester United.

We will also bring you the scores from this afternoon's four 15.00 GMT kick-offs, a slate of games that includes fallen champions Leicester's trip to Stoke City.

Stay tuned and get comfortable.