18 min: Fernandes hasn’t seen much of the ball, but now he gets on it and takes aim for the top-left corner. That’s high and wide too. United beginning to reassert themselves.

17 min: De Ligt plays a careless backpass that Igamane should intercept. He doesn’t, though. Had he managed to do so, he’d have been clean through. Yoro mops up to do his team-mate a favour.

16 min: Garnacho cuts in from the left and has a dig from distance. Wide and high. Butland yet to be tested.

15 min: Diallo thinks about a dribble down the right. There’s a light touch on the back of his shirt from Jefte, so he stops, waiting for the whistle to blow. But there’s no free kick forthcoming. United come again, though, Collyer winning the first corner of the game down the same flank. Diallo swings it in, and Igamane heads clear. This doesn’t feel like a game destined to end goalless.

13 min: … but because of those two chances, Rangers suddenly look a lot more comfortable and composed. A period of calm possession for them at the back.

11 min: Another big chance for Rangers! A ball looped down the inside-left channel for Yilmaz, who enters the box and larrups goalwards. Bayindir parries. United already looking shaky at the back. Rangers really should be leading.

9 min: Rangers should be leading. Collyer has his pocket picked 30 yards from goal. Igamane slips a pass down the middle to release Raskin, who finds himself one on one with Bayindir. He tries to round the keeper on the left, only for the ball to get stuck under his feet, allowing Bayindir to block. Huge chance.

8 min: Butland launches long. Igamane picks up possession in the midfield and spins into space, only to then lash a wild pass into the stand on the left. Even so, it’s another moment for Rangers in United territory, and after their slow start it should give them hope of gaining a foothold.

7 min: Diallo bombs down the right and nearly gets the better of Jefte. Not quite. Then Rangers take up possession, Cerny racing down the Rangers right at speed. He can’t find Igamane with his pass infield, but that’s the first showing of Rangers in attack.

5 min: Eriksen makes good down the right and fizzes a low cross into the mixer. Balogun does the work for Rangers again, hooking clear under pressure from Zirkzee.

4 min: Dalot flicks Garnacho into space down the left. Garnacho enters the box and prepares to cross, only for Balogun to slide in and block with a perfectly timed tackle.

3 min: Garnacho dribbles in from the left, in the old-fashioned jinking Scottish style, and has a whack. Straight at Butland. Meanwhile up in the stand, the one-time Rangers starlet Alex Ferguson watches on.

2 min: United are immediately on the front foot. Garnacho and Dalot probe down the left. Then a look for the one-time Rangers starlet Diallo on the right. Rangers yet to have a significant touch.

The latest Battle of Britain is go, Rangers kicking off. They’ll be kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.

The teams are out! United in red, Rangers in blue, the away end is bouncing, the home fans too. A huge banner in the Stretford End celebrating the life of the legendary Denis Law. The King. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. “I’d suggest that the TV in the United dressing room just show reruns of Coronation Street,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “It’s Mancunian soap at its best, before the American imports like Dynasty got their grubby mitts on British sport and telly.”

Pre-match postbag. “On a purely selfish basis (is there any other for a football supporter?), given that Fulham are playing Man Utd on Sunday, I’m hoping for a proper Battle of Britain, with no prisoners taken and full of Things No One Wants To See” – Richard Hirst

“As far as I know Oasis are a Man City band but based on recent pronouncements, might Ruben Amorim’s favourite album be Definitely Maybe?” – Peter Oh

“A manager in the Premier League cannot be inflexible. Amorim stated he is not changing his approach and placement of players. He will not solve Man Utd’s issues” – Jeff Sax

“Oddly enough, there was mention of Radio Rentals and DER on another fitba’ thread the other day. My folks were diehard DER-ers, so not to be outdone…” – Scott Blair

Hey, the end of that DER jingle had to be somewhere in the back of Craig Ferguson’s mind when he was penning his theme tune, surely. Had to be. Altogether now: ♬ D-E-R … tomorrow’s just your future yesterday. ♪♫

Rangers boss Philippe Clement speaks to TNT. “It’s a very big one … the players have worked really hard to get in a good position in the Europa League … this is one of the most iconic places to go to in football … really special … I don’t want them to come here to collect shirts or be happy to be here … they come here to perform and do something special … defend really well … compact … aggressive without getting cards … be brave on the ball … we have not come to park the bus … to believe in ourselves … find the right spaces … the system is really clear how Man U is playing so we need to find the right spaces in between.”

Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim talks to TNT. “It’s always good to be back on the field … we’d like to have more practice … that would be important for the games … but this is my job … to try to help my players to win games so I am really happy to have the opportunity … the players know me … it is easier for them to recognise what I am saying than other people … I don’t control what other people think and say … but it was a little bit my fault to create all that … it is in the past … the next game is today … really important … we need to win … time to train and escape the play-offs … and have that feeling of winning at home … it is impossible to be competitive in Premier League and in Europe, especially in Europa League … it is much harder than the Champions League … not the opponents of course but the time to recover … the players have to be prepared for every game … I expect a very tough match … very British with a lot of duels … I want to see improvement … improve with the ball … be more relaxed … I will try to help them outside the pitch a little bit more.”

Manchester United make five changes after the 3-1 home loss in the Premier League to Brighton & Hove Albion. Altay Bayındır, Christian Eriksen, Toby Collyer, Alejandro Garnacho and Lisandro Martínez are in for André Onana, Harry Maguire, Noussair Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo, all of whom drop to the bench. Still no involvement for Marcus Rashford.

Rangers make six changes to the side sent out to beat Fraserburgh 5-0 in the Scottish Cup at the weekend. Jack Butland, Leon Balogun, Nicolas Raskin, Rıdvan Yılmaz, Václav Černý and Hamza Igamane come in for Mason Munn, Clinton Nsiala, Mohamed Diomande, Ross McCausland, Zak Lovelace and Cyriel Dessers.

The teams

Preamble