The first chants of "Wem-ber-lee" ring out from the away fans as Manchester United continue to enjoy themselves. They are simply a yard faster to Derby in thought and foot at the moment. These early stages perhaps illustrate the gulf of the chasm between the top two divisions these days - even when Derby have spent £25m+...

Danny Murphy
MOTD pundit and ex-Liverpool midfielder on BBC One

Image source, Reuters

"Wonderful strike from Wayne Rooney. A man of his quality was always going to punish you with that amount of space. It's nothing more than Manchester United deserve, they have played with a confidence we haven't seen recently." 

Wayne Rooney gets a shot off from 22 yards, it has plenty of kick behind it but it hits Juan Mata in the back of the legs. Mata was also offside.

Derby have had 27% possession so far. Struggling to get near it.

I wouldn't say that the game is boring, but the United fans are singing songs about former player Nemanja Vidic, who retired today.

Derby now finally get some pressure in the opposing half - Tom Ince has an air-shot on the edge of the box and Cyrus Christie then hits a rising shot square into the midriff of David de Gea. 

Danny Murphy
MOTD pundit and ex-Liverpool midfielder on BBC One

"Derby are a little bit edgy - they've not laid a glove on Manchester United yet."

Look away now Derby fans. 

In nine Premier League games against Manchester United, your keeper Scott Carson conceded 26 goals and failed to keep a clean sheet.

Ominous....

They may not be overly happy with their side's style of play at the moment but there's nothing wrong with the voices of Manchester United's fans. The away end is rocking. Imagine if they see a goal!

Danny Murphy
MOTD pundit and ex-Liverpool midfielder on BBC One

"It's a big evening for Derby wingers Nick Blackman and Tom Ince against Manchester United's young full-backs Guillermo Varela and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson."

Morgan Schneiderlin overcooks a long pass out wide as Manchester United continue to boss the early possession.

If Les Ferdinand isn't an answer on Mastermind tonight I'll be amazed. 

Danny Murphy
MOTD pundit and ex-Liverpool midfielder

 "That was a very good opportunity, Anthony Martial will be disappointed. A superb move."  

Anon: The burning question on the lips of me, and most other Manchester United fans, is simply this: is there a good film on another channel so we don't have to suffer more embarrassment and actually be entertained?

Mastermind. BBC Two. While reading this.

The subjects are the Apollo missions, the Great Train Robbery, Queen's Park Rangers FC and the Alex Delaware novels of Jonathan Kellerman.  

Thank me later

Hello, what's this? A flowing, crisp passing move from Manchester United! Wayne Rooney lays the ball off to Anthony Martial, dead-weight, and the Frenchman leans back and curls a shot narrowly over.

Encouraging start from the visitors. The Rams struggling to get a touch at the moment. 

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince: "Ideally I want Derby to win and Thomas to score a hat-trick, but I can only dream about those things. It's not a good time to be a Manchester United fan, the old teams used to play with width and pace and created chances but now they are now very slow and methodical."   

Danny Murphy
MOTD pundit and ex-Liverpool midfielder

"What an electric atmosphere. The fans have been well up for it for about the last 20 minutes."

Anthony Martial is very wide on the left for Manchester United, with Juan Mata tucking in behind Wayne Rooney and Jesse Lingard on the right.

Derby have Chris Martin as their focal point. The Championship Diego Costa, as a colleague labelled him earlier...

Game on!

Ravi: LVG gets too much criticism, can't imagine him telling his players to bore us to death at the start of every match! Players need to take responsibility and show pride. Anyway, Fergie took nearly four years to create his dynasty and he took some serious flack!!