Simon Stone
BBC Sport at The Hawthorns

This is going to be sensational.

The atmosphere in the stadium is intense. The Wolves fans adapted the home signature tune to heap abuse on West Brom.

The West Brom fans have adapted Wolves' name to come up with a negative chant of their own.

Let's just say it is quite intense inside the Hawthorns at kick-off.

A short corner and patient build-up from West Brom but the offside flag eventually goes up against them.

West Brom's Jed Wallace causing problems in the opening 20 seconds and he wins a corner for the Championship hosts.

Under way in this one. A rowdy atmosphere already.

Image source, Getty Images

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at The Hawthorns

It is a measure of modern day football that both these clubs have Chinese ownerships.

At the start of the season, Wolves had to issue a statement to confirm Fosun were still committed to the club amid funding concerns amongst fans.

The same is not true of Baggies owner Guochuan Lai, who has been attempting to sell the club for a significant period of time.

United States businessman Shilen Patel has emerged as a credible buyer but given the club extended their borrowing from MSD in November and are no longer receiving parachute payments, they need a sale - or promotion, to bring a sense of calm back to the West Brom fan base.

Josh Earl: Wolves haven't won at The Hawthorns since 1996 (D5, L6).

Because of tennis overrunning, commentary of this game is on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra instead of BBC Radio 5 Live.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at The Hawthorns

It is hardly a surprise but today's game is a sell-out.

Wolves have a travelling contingent in excess of 4,000 for the first Black Country derby in front of fans since February 2012, when West Brom won 5-1 at Molineux after which Mick McCarthy was sacked as manager.

You have to go back to 1996 for Wolves' last win here, when Steve Bull was amongst the scorers.

This is the 10th time the two clubs have been paired together in the FA Cup. Remarkably, West Brom have come out on top eight times out of the previous nine. Wolves' sole success was in 1949.

This article discusses if this game even counts as a Black Country derby.

The Black Country, which takes its name from the smoke of iron-working foundries and forges during the industrial revolution, is usually described as the four local authority areas of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

The term has been used as a marketing tool to sell and promote the area, which lies to the north of Birmingham.

To traditionalists, the Black Country is the triangular area where a 30ft (9m) coal seam comes to the surface.

That includes the towns of West Bromwich, Oldbury and Dudley as well as parts of Halesowen, Wednesbury and Walsall.

But Wolverhampton, Stourbridge and Smethwick do not fall within this geographical area.

Click that link above to see what people from the region think.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at The Hawthorns

West Brom have a very distinctive 'Boiler Man' mascot, who is virtually alone on the pitch just now.

The Wolves fans spotted him and immediately burst into song.

The lyrics were not positive.

Image source, .

My colleague Neil Johnston has written a good explainer on how big this Black Country derby is.

"This isn't just any other game," John Homer, a West Brom season ticket holder since 1976, says. "This is about glory - and shame and humiliation."

Dazzling Dave of Always Wolves Fan TV says: "It's one of the most intense derbies in the world.

"I want us to show the world what a proper derby this is."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at The Hawthorns

The highlights of West Brom's famous 5-1 win at Molineux the last time these two sides met in front of fans has just been replayed on the big screens in the stadium.

It is almost as though the two games in 2020-21, which were played in empty stadiums due to the pandemic, never happened.

West Brom went down that season but still managed a 3-2 victory at Wolves before drawing the return 1-1.

Four home players - Kyle Bartley, Darnell Furlong, Conor Townsend and Okay Yokuslu, who left West Brom after that initial loan spell then returned in 2022 - are still in the starting line-up.

Only Nelson Semedo from the Wolves starting line-up began that game.

Later on, League Two Newport host Premier League giants Manchester United.

Newport County boss Graham Coughlan says he and many of his players have "always dreamed" of playing against the Red Devis.

Coughlan is a United fan, as are several of the Newport players.

"I never thought playing Manchester United would happen, you can dream, but now it's reality," Coughlan said.

"In the FA Cup as a player, coach and manager, I was always willing, 'Go on, [draw] Man Utd'.

"A year goes and then another year [has] gone and another and eventually you give up on it and say 'it'll never happen'.

"I've followed United all my days. That's why I was so emotional after the Eastleigh game."

You might have seen the big news this week - it probably would have been impossible to miss it.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is standing down at the end of the season. His farewell tour starts today with the Reds' home game with Norwich.

And what timing - Canaries boss David Wagner is Klopp's best friend, having worked together at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund.

Southampton are flying this season, with a club-record unbeaten run of 21 games taking them up to third in the Championship.

Speaking about their recent 3-1 win over Swansea, BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore said: "It was the best I have seen Southampton play since the 8-0 against Sunderland and 4-0 against Newcastle - the Ronald Koeman high. It was remarkable."

Saints boss Russell Martin, speaking to the BBC earlier this week, said: "In September, we lost four games. It is the only month we have lost in, which is crazy. They all came at once.

"It was difficult to sort of translate and communicate that I was comfortable with it."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport at The Hawthorns

If he needed reminding - and I suspect he doesn't - West Brom manager Carlos Corberan says in his programme notes that fans have been stopping him the street to let him know how much today's game means.

"From the first moment the draw was made, and there was a possibility this fixture could happen, you started the feel the importance," he says.

"When I have been walking down the street or out in the city, people have said how much it means to them.

"I have looked at previous derbies and within 10 seconds you can understand everything.

"You don't need to watch a full 90 minutes to see what the atmosphere will feel like in the stadium."

BBC Radio 2 DJ and West Bromwich Albion fan Richie Anderson goes head-to-head with Wolves supporter Jason Guy on The Football News Show to explain just how deep the Black Country rivalry runs.

Watch the whole show - including the other games - here.

Chris Sutton
BBC football expert

This local derby is always a big occasion and it should be a great game too. I watched West Brom lose at Norwich at the weekend, but they were a bit unlucky actually because they dominated possession.

Wolves are on a nice run of form in the league, and I think their manager Gary O'Neil will fancy a bit of a cup run. I can see the scoreline being close, but I am pretty confident they will beat the Baggies.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Iwan Roberts
Former Wolves striker on BBC Radio WM

It's such a big occasion for the West Midlands.

No-one had to tell me how big the game was. I had seen it on TV. I knew how passionate the derby was.

It's the same wherever you go - the supermarket, gym or the pub - that is the one thing people want to talk about.

The Wolves players should know what it's about. If they don't quite get what this derby is about as soon as they arrive at The Hawthorns, they will.

Read more here.

This is only their third meeting in the last 12 years.

The last time they met in the FA Cup was 2007, with West Brom winning 3-0 at Molineux.