Tune in at 10:00 AM ET as West Brom takes on Manchester City. Jack Goodson will be liveblogging for your enjoyment.
Preamble: Welcome back to The Score's ongoing coverage of the Barclays Premier League. First, I trust you all joined Rob Hammerschmidt for the day's early match, which was a stunning piece of entertainment that saw Chelsea storm back from 2-1 down to win 4-2 over Spurs at White Hart Lane. What a game that was.
Second, I'm glad you've joined me to see how the reigning champions, Manchester City, fare against the league's surprising outfit thus far, West Bromwich Albion, at The Hawthorns. This match sees fifth place hosting third place. Who would have thought we'd be saying that prior to the start of the season.
Team sheets
West Brom (4-2-3-1)
Foster; Tamas, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Mulumbu, Yacob; Dorrans, Morrison, Fortune; Long. Bench: Luke Daniels, Popov, Rosenberg, Jara Reyes, Lukaku, Gera, Odemwingie.
Manchester City (4-4-2)
Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Milner, Y Toure, Barry, Nasri; Balotelli, Tevez. Bench: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Dzeko, Sinclair, Kolarov, Aguero, K Toure.
Who's in charge? Our referee for today's contest is Mark Clattenburg.
A stat of interest: West Brom have won their opening four home league fixtures in the top flight. That's the first time that's happened since 1919. A fifth would see the Baggies (14 points) leap over City (15 points) in the table. That's going to take some doing, however.
1min: And we're off at The Hawthorns. The big team news is the absence of David Silva for the visitors. The Spaniard picked up a hamstring injury in the international break during a World Cup qualifier against France. City, with their resources, should be able to cope ably.
1min: Keep an eye on Carlos Tevez, perhaps even more so than usual. The Argentinian has scored five goals against West Brom since moving to England in 2006.
2min: It's been an aggressive start from West Brom. Fortune whipped a low shot wide of the far post from the opening kickoff, a strike that took a deflection off Kompany but somehow resulted in a goal kick.
3min: A free kick to the hosts sees Morrison loft a dangerous ball into the box that City managed to clear, but only to the midfield circle. Fortune picked up the ball on the right side moments later, and saw the ball nick off his ankle as he attempted to skip past Toure. It's a goal kick for the visitors, and a slight knock for Toure.
4min: This has actually been a really good start for West Ham. Dorrans wins a free kick at midfield after being bundled over by Milner.
6min: Some silky one-touch stuff from City down the inside-left channel ends with Balotelli receiving the ball near the left edge of the penalty area. The Italian striker did well to hold up the ball against three defenders before cutting back inside and then being tripped up. The free kick is awarded, and it's a dangerous one.
7min: Nasri and Balotelli stand over the free kick. Nasri takes, curling his right-footed shot into the top of the wall and behind for a corner kick, the match's first.
9min: City slow down the match for a spell. West Brom attempt to liven it up with a swift counter attack. Morrison spotted on Fortune in space on the right side, but his cross-field pass was just a tad overhit. Nevertheless, it was a nice spot.
11min: Nasri hooks a cross from the right side straight into the hands of Foster after City had produce a series of slick short passes on the right of the box. The visitors seemed to play the game far too intricately there.
13min: Balotelli shows a hint of selfishness in creating the first shot on target of the day. The Italian broke down the left, and appeared to have Tevez in a good position. However, the pass never arrived, Balotelli choosing rather to cut onto his right foot and curl a tame shot from the edge of the box into the comfortable grasp of Foster.
14min: This is a great defensive header from McCauley. Milner found some room on the right and whipped an appetizing cross into the center of the box that both Balotelli and Toure were looking to attack.
15min: From the corner, Foster is forced to tip over Richard's looping header. Richards rose well, even above his own teammate Kompany. Another corner for the visitors.
17min: After a couple of player-referee conferences - a lot of wasted time - the corner is played toward the near post by Barry. It's easily cleared.
20min: Here's something you probably expected. Balotelli picks up the match's first yellow card for late barge into Yacop.
21min: That would have been something. Balotelli and Tevez link up for the first time today, with the latter hooking a volleyed effort over the top of the crossbar following a Balotelli cross.
22min: If you're curious what's going on around the league, Wayne Rooney has scored an own goal for Manchester United, who trail Stoke City 1-0 after 20 minutes.
23min: RED CARD! Milner has been sent off after a needless giveaway by his captain, Kompany, at midfield.
24min: Kompany was, for some odd reason, dribbling away at midfield against two West Brom players. He was, as you'd expect, dispossessed and Shane Long was fed quickly at the top. Long broke through the middle and was about to pull the trigger when he was scythed down from behind by Milner. I don't think Milner can have any argument with that decision.
25min: This situation could prove worse for City if Dorrans gets the free kick right. He doesn't, though, hitting the 20-yard effort straight into the wall.
26min: Apparently that's the first straight red card of Milner's career.
27min: One thing's for sure here, this match just got a ton more interesting.
27min: Long has been booked for a deliberate attempt at a handball. It was a ridiculous decision by Long, who threw his hand up at the ball in an attempt to flick it back into play on the right byline. What a dumb play.
30min: This match is seeing all sorts of players hitting the deck under challenges. Hart is the latest to need attention after coming out strongly to deny Dorrans a chance on the left side of the box. In the process, Dorran caught Hart flush on the knee with his right foot. That had to have hurt - badly.
30min: Nevertheless, Hart, the England No. 1, is ready to continue almost immediately. A proper footballer this kid.
32min: And yet another yellow card. Tamas is booked for blocking off Clichy as the fullback was bombing down the left side. This match hasn't had a chance to get going because of all the fouling - not the best advert for English football.
35min: This is going to be another yellow card. Yacob is the latest to be booked, this time for slicing through Tevez as the forward was moving left to right across the edge of the box. The resulting free kick is going to be a great look for City, about 20 yards from goal just left of the D.
37min: Balotelli takes this time, but we get the same result. The curling shot collides with the top half of the defensive wall.
40min: Balotelli tumbles to the ground holding his face following an aerial challenge with McCauley. It was a foul. sure, but McCauley never touched the Italian's face. That's embarrassing.
41min: And then Balotelli does something like this. It was 3 on 1 for the striker, but he made them all look like dunces with a lovely piece of skill to skip in between the trio on the left of the box. In space, Balotelli had time as well, but instead struck a low, driven shot right at Foster who saved with his feet.
42min: City are surging forward even with the man disadvantage. They have a corner.
43min: Balotelli is walking a seriously fine line right now. He receives a talking from the referee following a challenge that actually looked worse than the one he was booked for. Balotelli ran straight through Long on the left side. Just an irresponsible play from the Italian, who probably will have to come off at halftime.
47min: West Brom win a free kick after a free kick delivery came off the head of Lescott. There will be a minimum of four added minutes.
47min: The corner comes off the head of Barry at the near post, falling to Morrison on the left side of the box. The West Brom player can strike a ball, and he does so this time - only for the shot to sear over the top of the crossbar by a couple of years.
Halftime, West Brom 0-0 Manchester City: That's it for the first half. I think we could refer to the opening 45 minutes as tempestuous. The match has been full of incident, with yellow cards - and a red for James Milner - being more regular than actual shots. City, down a man thanks to Milner's sending off, need a regroup. And Roberto Mancini should probably haul off Mario Balotelli before he joins Milner in the locker room. West Brom, meanwhile, need to be more adventurous. Stay tuned to see how this one plays out.
Preamble: Welcome back to The Score's ongoing coverage of the Barclays Premier League. First, I trust you all joined Rob Hammerschmidt for the day's early match, which was a stunning piece of entertainment that saw Chelsea storm back from 2-1 down to win 4-2 over Spurs at White Hart Lane. What a game that was.
