Let’s say a nice word for Swansea here – after taking the lead they controlled the game very intelligently, only gave one serious chance away and didn’t take any unnecessary risks. It was careful, circumspect stuff and that kind of approach should see them alright if it continues. Paul Clement has, indeed, started very well.
Leicester are in freefall, meanwhile. They’ll go and tonk Sevilla now, obviously, but their next league fixture is at Anfield – which means their game on 4 March against Hull, at home, currently looks absolutely huge. How are they going to call a halt to this? As soon as they go a goal down, they look shot. It doesn’t seem very good for them.
That’ll do for today. Thanks for reading, as ever, and for all your contributions. See you again soon.
Full-time: Swansea 2-0 Leicester
A superb result for Swansea – and Leicester are now in very real trouble.
Updated
90+2 min: Ndidi flicks on a Chilwell throw but Slimani, trying to make sense of the ensuing scramble, makes a foul. Some handbags then result, not sure why, with Huth heavily involved.
90+1 min: Three minutes of added time to be played.
89 min: Gray, their brightest spark, does well again though down the left and his cross falls for Huth, who ruins it all by handballing. Swansea replace Routledge with Luciano Narsingh now.
87 min: A few whirling arms and displays of urgency among the Leicester players here but, come on, it’s too late and this just hasn’t been remotely good enough since Mawson scored.
85 min: Leicester win a corner though. Gray’s inswinger is cleared. A degree of pressure is being applied now but, when Schmeichel knocks the ball back in towards the Swansea box, it goes beyond Huth and dribbles harmlessly out. Morgan gets a bit angry with Olsson for not returning the ball promptly.
84 min: Mark Judd has had his ear to the ground – “The word on the street is that this Leicester team are at their normal level and last year was a fluke of immense proportions, there seems to be some truth in that claim.”
82 min: Meantime, Sigurdsson makes space on his left foot and fires over when he might do better.
10 - Leicester City have now gone 10 hours without scoring a Premier League goal. Decline.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 12, 2017
Ooooof.
81 min: The second corner is dealt with. Swansea, though, look like seeing this out with little drama.
80 min: An error from Amartey wins Swansea a corner and, as with most things they’ve done since the break, they take their time over it. They are almost rewarded – Huth flicks another fine Sigurdsson flag kick just wide of his own post for another one on the other side,.
79 min: Vardy has a half-chance! A good run from Ndidi, a clever little pass on the edge of the box by Slimani ... but Vardy doesn’t *quite* have the space to do what he wants with it and, with two defenders closing in, slices off target from 18 yards.
Updated
77 min: Gray wins a free-kick after good play from Vardy. It’s taken quickly and Chilwell’s cross is cleared ahead of Morgan before Mahrez, dancing into the box on the other side, sees his own centre cut out by Mawson.
75 min: Who, on this Leicester team, has the appetite to drag them out of this? It needs something from someone. It’s all very well stepping up when nobody’s expecting much of you, admirable though that was last season. Their plight now requires bigger personalities than ever.
73 min: Not for the first time, Ndidi slashes one miles over from range.
73 min: Drinkwater splays one way in front of Amartey and out of play and that, the flurry earlier aside, sums up Leicester’s game. Summing up Swansea’s is that Llorente gets a standing ovation as he is replaced by deburant Jordan Ayew.
Updated
71 min: Carroll fans a pass out to Sigurdsson but then, receiving the ball back, suffers a breakdown in communication with Olsson and the move is scuppered. Amartey comes on for an annoyed-looking Simpson.
68 min: Final change for Leicester imminent – Daniel Amartey will join us soon.
67 min: More intent from Leicester now but I suspect they will regret that Slimani, on his left foot, didn’t put that chance away as he should have done.
64 min: They’ve woken up! Gray does superbly down the left now and his ball just evades Slimani, before Ndidi hits wildly over.
Updated
63 min: Leicester finally make a chance – and Fabianski saves! Much better as Mahrez finds a pocket in front of the defence after a Vardy flick. Mahrez plays Slimani in perfectly, and it’s a fantastic opportunity, but Fabianski is out superbly to make himself big and block the shot. How important a moment might that be?
Updated
62 min: Olsson’s cross flicks off Simpson for a Swansea corner, and Sigurdsson is over to take it. Simpson, by the way, is one of very few Leicester players to be bearing up here. And I think he knows it. Anyway, the corner is hung under the crossbar beyond Schmeichel, but Moss sees a foul.
60 min: Swansea are allowing Leicester plenty of the ball, which invariably gets wasted when they get frustrated and attempt something more direct. Not in any trouble at all just now.
57 min: Now Chilwell is booked for a foul on Llorente. It was a bit soft but, having been warned moments previously, it wasn’t the best bit of contact to engage in.
56 min: Chilwell, on at left-back, blocks Routledge off and concedes a dangerous free-kick out by the touchline. He also receives a firm warning from Moss. It’s a whipped, low-ish delivery and Drinkwater gets it away.
54 min: That was better ... for a moment. Gray and Vardy make a sharp exchange down the left and the former has space to attack. He – I think – looks for Slimani at the far post but chips his cross straight into Fabianski’s hands. Sigurdsson is rather more accurate with a 22-yard effort at the other end, forcing Schmeichel to save to his right.
Updated
53 min: Leicester get on the ball but can’t do anything penetrative. A low Mahrez centre is dealt with easily. Swansea look quite happy to sit back and choose their moments further forward.
50 min: Sharp from Simpson to get across and clear a Routledge delivery, and he doesn’t look happy with those who allowed the cross. Leicester are a bit dejected and scowly.
49 min: Llorente gets his head on a Naughton cross now, but was quite far out and never looked like threatening the goal.
48 min: No early charge from the Foxes. Swansea playing it around calmly so far, Llorente not quite able to keep one promising attack going.
Peeeeeeep! The second half is underway
Do Leicester have any fight left?
Yes, they’ve made the change. Slimani and Chilwell for Albrighton and Fuchs.
Looks as if Leicester are prepping a half-time double substitution – Slimani and Chilwell could be joining us ...
I’ll wave this one through, from John Thompson: “If the Swans have to resort to their subs we’ll see how Narsingh compares to Ayew ...”
“If Leicester manage to stay up, I suppose the good news might be that there won’t be many clubs beating down their door trying to sign Vardy, Mahrez and Drinkwater now,” writes Kevin Wilson.
Maybe, although I suspect there might be something of a new broom next season regardless.
Some very appropriate half-time reading, if you missed it earlier in the weekend. The excellent Alfie Mawson speaks to the similarly excellent Stuart James:
Half-time: Swansea 2-0 Leicester
My word, what do Leicester do now? The game had been ambling until Mawson’s goal, the visitors looking slightly the more threatening even if that wasn’t to say much, but everything has turned on its head now and that second goal by Olsson was crucial in its timing. A team can often be measured on how it responds to adversity: Leicester are currently failing that test time and again, and what a half-time teamtalk this needs to be from Ranieri.
Goal! Swansea 2-0 Leicester (Olsson 45+2)
Scrap that, they could do with a miracle on this form. A slick one-touch move finishes with Sigurdsson angling a wonderful ball behind Simpson and Albrighton. Olsson surges onto it and lashes it past Schmeichel at his near post!
Updated
45+2 min: This Leicester team could really do with a bit of Shinji Okazaki, I think.
45+1 min: We’ll play four extra minutes, mainly due to Dyer’s early injury.
45 min: Vardy is first to his own flick-on and gets away down the right. He wins a corner from Fernandez. Mahrez’s delivery is poor and Cork swats it away.
43 min: Swansea are knocking the ball about and there’s certainly not been a big response to that goal from Leicester.
40 min: Cork is booked for a foul on halfway. The free-kick comes to nought but Leicester’s priority here might well be not to crumble before the break.
38 min: That goes down as “a goal the game needed”. And what a strike it was. So cleanly hit by the centre-back. Leicester had been, for my money, slightly the better side here but now they are in a lot of trouble.
Goal! Swansea 1-0 Leicester (Mawson 36)
What a volley! A Swansea free-kick from deep, taken after a heavy challenge between Huth and Carroll caused some handbags, is half-cleared and Fernandez nods it back across the area. Mawson, standing 14 yards out, connects perfectly and absolutely laces the ball past Schmeichel and into the corner! Swansea lead.
Updated
35 min: There’s a chance though! Routledge, who had just crossed beyond Tom Carroll, gets on the end of a delivery from the other side – Olsson puts the ball over, it flicks off a head at the near post and Schmeichel has to be down sharply to parry Routledges volley. Moments later Sigurdsson bends a left-footer wide from 20 yards. Much better from Swansea.
33 min: I’m praising Leicester but should still point out that this is fairly thin gruel – it is, as expected, a game pretty low on quality and so far bereft of goalscoring chances.
31 min: A Sigurdsson free-kick from the right flicks off Drinkwater’s head and he is slightly relieved to see it fly beyond everyone and out for a corner on the left. The delivery from Sigurdsson is good but Schmeichel, underemployed so far, punches away well.
29 min: Huth is uncompromising in winning a challenge ahead of Naughton. It may not sound like much but Leicester are looking resolute and determined – a big change from some of their recent offerings.
27 min: Mawson appears to hesitate in the area as Gray chases a Vardy header but shows some ice coolness to Cruyff his way out of it. Looks a decent player on the ball, the ex-Wycombe and Barnsley lad.
26 min: Fer is booked for a foul on Vardy in midfield. Needless.
Updated
26 min: Mahrez looks for Vardy but Mawson gets in to nod away. It’s livening up a little here, with Leicester still looking the more threatening.
24 min: Huth heads the corner away. Still no clear chances here.
24 min: Drinkwater shows great determination to win the ball from Olsson and Leicester are away again. Mahrez, via Gray, takes the ball inside from the right but his goalbound shot strikes a defender. Then Swansea counter and win themselves another corner...
22 min: Drinkwater wins a wrestling match with Olsson down the left. Swansea, after those couple of early forays, haven’t offered loads and are being pressed hard. Vardy then leads another break for Leicester but holds onto the ball too long and his left-foot shot, which is blocked, comes more from hope than expectation.
Updated
19 min: Ndidi overhits a pass for Albrighton but he has started well – good presence, awareness on and off the ball, decent speed. Looks a very good prospect.
17 min: A nice Albrighton switch finds Mahrez on the right, he nudges down the line to Simpson and Leicester have a flag kick. Gray, with the outswinger, delivers but Ndidi heads harmlessly wide at the near post.
15 min: Yes, the stats show 65% of the ball for Swansea so far. But I think Leicester are doing OK and look a threat.
14 min: Swansea are, as you might expect, controlling the possession but Leicester are working pretty hard at the moment, snapping at their feet and making sure most moves don’t stick. They are breaking well too and Mawson is sharp to intercept a Vardy return pass intended for Gray.
11 min: Mawson then does something rather less clever, conceding a free-kick just outside the area and to the right. Mahrez is over it ... but it’s cleared unfussily.
10 min: First real foray from Leicester as Mahrez releases Vardy, whose cross is cleared at the near post by the brave Mawson. A subsequent Ndidi effort is blocked.
Updated
8 min: The second corner is cleared by Fuchs. A couple of people have reminded me, by the way, that Phil Thompson won manager of the month after stepping in for Gerard Houllier when the latter had heart surgery in November 2001.
Updated
7 min: The corner is eventually taken by Sigurdsson and headed behind for another by Morgan.
7 min: Not sure what happened there but Dyer appears to be finished for this afternoon. Shame for him, as he’d surely have been well up for this one and had started brightly enough. He’s hobbling from the pitch in a lot of pain, and Wayne Routledge will replace him. Looking again, his left ankle seems to have given way as he played the pass that put Naughton in. Not good, hope it’s not too serious for him.
Updated
4 min: Naughton surges to the line and Swansea win a corner. There’ll be a delay though, as Dyer has an injury.
3 min: Dyer’s first involvement is to be sliced down by Albrighton, so Swansea have a free-kick. It’s taken quickly and eventually is worked to Sigurdsson, whose shot is blocked – by a Leicester hand, the Swans reckon, but Jon Moss isn’t having it.
Updated
2 min: Scrappy start. I suspect it may stay fairly scrappy.
Peeeeeep! They're off!
Leicester kick left to right.
My colleague Dan Lucas, points out that Mike Phelan won MOTM in his first month in charge of Hull. How quickly things change. Not mid-season, admittedly, but still ...
Alan Potts has answered that manager of the month query, by the way: “Gordon Strachan, Dec 1996 at Coventry, after he took over from Big Ron having been his assistant.”
Excellent stuff.
The teams are out on the pitch ... kick-off is moments away ...
There’s an interesting starter for Swansea, by the way – Nathan Dyer. He was, of course, on loan at Leicester last season but perhaps the forgotten man of their title win, making 12 appearances off the bench but not starting in the league. What price a key contribution today?
@NickAmes82 I wonder if Paul Clement is first manager to win MotM at his first month in the middle of season. Did Big Sam win it last year?
— Ted Kesgar (@tkesgar) February 12, 2017
No, he didn’t – so this is a good question. Can anyone help?
I must say that Leicester remind me a *little* bit of the Ipswich side from 2001/02. Ipswich finished fifth, not first, the season before but hear me out. Sides that overperform as these two did tend to be such tightly-wound units that removing one cog sends everything flying. That clearly happened with Kante at Leicester; it also happened at Ipswich when they sold Richard Wright and James Scowcroft, bringing in players like Matteo Sereni and Finidi George in a bid to cope with European football and move to the “next level” but instead finding that the unique chemistry of times past just couldn’t be recreated with slightly different personnel. Leicester’s disconsolate performances remind me a fair bit of Ipswich’s in the spring of 2002, as well. They need to sort it out sharpish to avoid a repeat; trust me, nobody wants 15 straight seasons in the Championship ...
14 – Leicester are without an away win in the PL since last April – they are on a run of 14 games without a win (D5 L9). Troubles.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 12, 2017
Ouch. A stat that might, in different ways, make both sets of fans feel slightly nervous.
Updated
Burnley 1-1 Chelsea was the final score at Turf Moor, by the way. Mightily impressive from Sean Dyche’s side. And if you haven’t seen Robbie Brady’s free-kick yet, then make sure you do ...
Of course, I’m keen to hear what you expect from today’s game. And also your views on the respective sides. Run the rule over Ranieri, cry from the rooftops about Clement – email or tweet to the addresses above.
Interesting, in that Leicester team, to see starts for Ndidi and Gray – who scored the superb goals that saw off Derby in the FA Cup on Wednesday. Perhaps they will add a bit of the dynamism Leicester have missed. Lots of pace in that lineup this afternoon.
In fact, before we do talk more – join Daniel Harris for the last 15 or so of Burnley v Chelsea. It’s a rattling good 1-1 at the moment.
The teams
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson, Fer, Cork, Carroll, Dyer, Llorente, Sigurdsson. Subs: Ayew, Amat, Nordfeldt, Routledge, Rangel, Narsingh, Kingsley.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Simpson, Huth, Morgan, Fuchs, Drinkwater, Ndidi, Mahrez, Gray, Albrighton, Vardy. Subs: Chilwell, Musa, King, Amartey, Slimani, Okazaki, Zieler.
Referee: Jon Moss
Chew over these and we’ll chat in a few ...
Dilly ding, dilly dong, how did it all go so wrong? A year ago this weekend, Leicester lost late on at Arsenal; they didn’t deserve to, but it was their last defeat of the 2015/16 season and we all know what followed. Danny Welbeck’s winner didn’t matter, but any similar heroics from a Swansea player this afternoon really might. Defeat at the Liberty Stadium would be their fifth in a row in the Premier League – and remarkably, they have not scored in any of their last five league games.
They won’t quite be in the bottom three if they lose this, thanks to defeats for all of the existing relegation zone incumbents yesterday. And you do get the impression that, even considering their very clear malaise, there ought to be three worse sides in the final shake-up. But a terrible run of this nature can throw everything out of the window, and being leapfrogged by a Swansea side that seemed a sure thing for the drop a few weeks ago would not be a good look at all – particularly with Liverpool, Hull and Arsenal their next three league opponents.
And Swansea now seem a very different proposition under Paul Clement. He’s been named manager of the month after three wins in January; it’s probably too early to hang out the bunting and say he’s transformed them, because new manager bounces are very common indeed, but they look an organised, compact unit once more and came mighty close to grabbing a point at Manchester City this week. They’ll fancy their chances here – and a win would, as in Leicester’s case, push them up above 15th-placed Middlesbrough.
Should be tight, tough, taut, tense and lots of other words beginning with T. Don’t go away!
Nick will be here shortly.
