That completes this afternoon’s coverage; thanks for your company and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Later.
Here’s our match report...
Lauren Hemp has put City back in front at Arsenal; 11 minutes remain.
Looking at those Liverpool-City teams, City going in without a proper centre-forward might allow one of Fabinho or Henderson, both of whom play at the back, to step into midfield. On the other hand, two non-defenders playing in defence might struggle working out who, if anyone, to mark.
Elsewhere today:
Back at Boreham Wood, Arsenal have equalised against City through Caitlin Foord. This is looking like a very handy weekend for Chelsea.
Wolves will be happier with that point than Leicester, which consolidates the good work they did in midweek against Arsenal. Leicester, though, failed to take advantage of Man United’s last-second collapse, and will drop a place if Liverpool beat Man City. There’s going to be a proper ruckus for the Champions League places, with only City’s looking guaranteed.
They’ll be kicking off at Anfield in 34 minutes or so; join Rob Smyth for all the build-up.
At Boreham Wood, Man City still lead Arsenal.
You’d have put the lot on Vardy to take that chance, but Fabio Silva ought to have put Wolves in front a few minutes earlier. It was a bit of a tired effort from Leicester, who didn’t play with their usual intensity until very late on.
Full-time: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Leicester City
That was a lot more entertaining than it sounds. Leicester stay third, Wolves stay 14th.
90+3 min Had Leicester played at this tempo earlier, they might now be ahead.
90+ 2 min Brilliant from Albrighton, forcing himself to the line and digging out a terrific cross for Vardy! On the touchline, Rodgers knows it’s in, celebrating the inevitable finish as his man arrives onto the header like a thousand rabid dogs ... but the effort glances just wide!
90+1 min Maddison pulls the free-kick back to Tielemans on the edge ... this is a chance! ... and he splatters o2 all over the show.
90 min There’ll be three additional minutes, but in the meantime, Vardy can’t quite control a cross on the leap, then Gibbs-White fouls Albrighton unnecessarily. Free-kick Leicester, halfway between touchline and box, and right-hand side.
89 min Barnes slows up Semedo but the defender reads him, going down his outside and emerging with the ball.
88 min Final push from Wolves, Gibbs-White replacing Neto.
88 min Wolves work it to Hoever, whose snap-shot scurries wide.
87 min Leicester are doing a much better job of covering Traore than earlier in the half, this time Choudhury getting across to help Justin when the ball goes wide. It’s enough to see Wolves away.
85 min Maddison holds the ball up secure in the knowledge that Kilman will thunk into the back of him, but Leicester can’t make anything of the free-kick.
84 min Both sides have run out of ideas, inasmuch as either had any to begin with. Leicester have been really flat today, and I don’t understand why they’ve stuck with a formation that isn’t working in the hope that they just start playing better.
82 min Leicester are trying to force it, Barnes shimmying past Semedo’s crisp-packet challenge and sliding back to Albrighton; his shot scuttles wide of the near post.
79 min Oh yes! I loved John McGinn already, but this is spectacular.
An argument between Sean Dyche & John McGinn is the exact type of content I needed today 🤣 pic.twitter.com/iAV4Qk5BaZ
— Ty Bracey (@TyBracey) February 7, 2021
77 min Again, Leicester can’t deal with the corner and Wolves contest the second, third and 94th ball, eventually forcing one through to Silva! He should probably dink a finish – what Gazza used to call “a little Peter Beardsley” – but instead opens his body to slide inside the near post, only Schmeichel extends a leg and deflects wide with his studs. Good save, but he oughtn’t have smelled it.
76 min And then they find Fabio Silva, who moves out to Traore. This time, Tielemans gets out to double up with Justin, and Traore thinks he’s been fouled, but the ball squirts out to Semedo and his shot is deflected wide.
Updated
75 min Wolves enjoy a bit of narcotising possession.
73 min Better from Leicester, Barnes – who’s been quiet – feeding Ricardo and dashing onto the cut-back return. But just as it looks like he’s going to plant the ball past Rui Patricio, opening his body nicely, Kilman slides in front of his shot to block wide. That’s fantastic defending, and without it it’s 0-1.
73 min Elsewhere, the build-up to Liverpool -City has started. If that finishes in an away win, the title race is surely over.
71 min Leicester are inching their way back into control, which is how Wolves like it really. Last season, no team scored more of their goals in the second half than they did, and sitting back then uncoiling was how they did it.
70 min I quite like the angle of the Molineux cameras, just high enough to give you a decent view of the park but not so high you’re not involved in the action. The Molineux away end, on the other hand, is the worst in the league and by far - quite an accolade given Newcastle are in the division.
68 min Ricardo spins away from Hoever, then accidentally clatters Neves as he stretches to keep the ball.
66 min Here comes Neto again – he’s giving Ricardo a munting afternoon – and he picks a decent cut-back, cleverly allowed through his legs by Silva. But arriving at the edge of the box, Moutinho can only thrash over the top.
64 min Wolves have been much the better side since half-time, and they’re the team dictating the play at the moment. Leicester might not mind this because it gives them a chance on the counter, but in the meantime, Neto weaves past two challenges ... and can’t quite find the cross.
62 min Traore is causing all sorts of aggravation and he turns up on the left, where Maddison trips him and is booked.
62 min Fabio Silva replaces Willian Jose, who’s not done much.
61 min Double change for Leicester, Albrighton and Vardy coming on for Perez and Iheanacho. Those look decent changes but 4-4-2 is a better antidote to 3-4-3 than 4-3-3, I’d say.
60 min Ricardo gives it Tielemans and dashes on for the return, flicked around the corner and over the top. All he then has to do is let Dendoncker head out for a corner, but instead he waves a foot at it so is penalised for a a high boot. Silly behaviours.
59 min Perez moves away from Moutinho in centrefield and picks a pass through to Iheanacho, but he’s got nothing on and can’t hold up. On the touchline, Vardy is ready to go.
Updated
57 min Yeah, Traore is on one now, slowing up Justin then screeching by and drilling an excellent low cross that is superbly defending by Pereira, sliding in and doing just enough to stop Neto from getting a clean strike on it. The ball rears up and Choudhury panic-heads behind, for a corner which yields another which comes to nowt.
56 min Tielemans guides a decent long pass into Iheanacho on the edge of the box, but in controlling it he takes himself away from goal and is quickly crowded out.
54 min But here comes Justin down the left, getting nowhere, and Wolves counter when Choudhury dithers on a ball coming out of the sky long enough for Traore to barge through him and it. This forces Soyuncu to scythe through him, for which he’s booked; the resultant free-kick is headed clear by the first man.
53 min Leicester really need to make a change. I’m sure Vardy will be on, and he’s warming up now, but the question is whether there’s a change of formation coming with him.
52 min It’s still much too slow from Leicester, but eventually they get the ball up the pitch and into Iheanacho, who holds up then smashes fresh air high into the top corner of the net.
50 min Traore runs away from Barnes, who fouled him a few seconds previously and did well to avoid a booking. His cross is just too strong, but he’s coming onto a game here.
48 min Wolves push it out to Traore, who arranges his feet over the ball beautifully, gulling Justin into thinking he’s going outside before teeing up Neves on his inside; the resultant shot flies high and wide, but not by that much.
47 min I love Saka. It’s absolutely mind-boggling how good he is, in so many positions.
46 min “The excellent Saka for me, is one of the youngest-looking players,” reckons Ruth Purdue. He is definitely the league’s choochiest player.
46 min We go again.
Jonny doesn’t make it out for the second half, replaced by Hoever. Hopefully he’s ok.
The players are back with us.
It’s so unacceptable that 20-year-old footballers are forced to deal with stuff like this, but what a job they’re doing of dealing with it.
"How can that make sense? So for us seeing stuff like that it always makes us angry."
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) February 7, 2021
Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi reacts to the news that Twitter doesn't believe that the use of Monkey emoji with a negative connotation is not considered racist or damaging. #beINPL pic.twitter.com/FuJdPaQW8V
Elsewhere, Ellen White’s banger has given Man City the lead at Arsenal; earlier today, Reading recorded a shock win at Man United.
Let’s hope for a bit of this in the second half.
Half-time: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Leicester City
Maddison is still irating at Neves as they trot off, but as much as anything he’s probably frustrated with how the game’s going; save its goalless aspect, exactly as Wolves would like it to be going.
45+1 min Maddison skips around Neves, who ploughs through him in the traditional manner. He’s booked.
45 min There’ll be one additional minute.
45 min Now Traore gets around Justin, blazing by on the outside. But with men in the box, his cut-back is behind all of them; that’s a wasted opportunity.
Updated
44 min This has been an enjoyable half, in a low-key kind of way. Or maybe I’ve recalibrated my expectations of Wolves so that any vaguely watchable game involving them seems like Brazil-France at Mexico ’86.
42 min But this is better from Leicester, Tielemans sliding a lovely ball out for Perez, weighted beautifully; he runs onto it and caresses a low cross into the box, which Iheanacho holds up well. He then lays back for Maddison, who punches a side-footer that’s straight at Rui Patricio.
41 min It’s got a bit messy. Neither side quite has the cohesion to move the ball through midfield quickly.
39 min I don’t think it’ll be long before we see James Vardy. If I was Brendan Rodgers - I’m not, and I’m not even sure Brendan Rodgers is – I’d be keeping Iheanacho on and taking Perez off.
Updated
37 min Poor from Neves, who clumps it straight into the wall.
36 min Moutinho gets on the ball in a shooting position, and just when he looks like letting one go, he switches to Neves and Choudury hurls himself in the road of the eventuating shot, the ball hitting his raised arm. Free-kick Wolves, just outside the D.
35 min “Re the youngest looking player in the league,” says Adam Kline-Schoder, “Tielemans is a great shout, and in the current crop I’d also nominate Ødegaard. If I may cast our collective mind back to last season, I always thought that David Brooks wouldn’t stand out too much in the local primary school.”
Tangentially, I really like Brooks. I’m surprised he’s not playing in the Prem this season.
34 min Better from Leicester, Barnes getting on the ball and on the run with space in front of him, playing into Iheanacho, and when the ball breaks to Maddison inside the box, 529 Wolves defenders hurl themselves in front of him to block the shot.
Updated
32 min Evans misjudges the flight of the ball and axe-kicks Jose as a consequence; he’s booked, and the only reason it was left at that is that he missed. Proper contact there, and he’s gawn.
31 min Wolves back off and wait for the loose pass, which is not long in coming. Leicester need to get Maddison on the ball in the number 10 position, perhaps on the half-turn – he’s a bit deep at the moment.
29 min Indeed he does, curling low and around the near side of the wall; Rui Patricio gathers at the second attempt.
28 min Neves fouls Tielemans and Leicester have a free-kick 35 yards out, right of centre. It looks too far out for a shot, but Maddison might fancy it.
27 min Neto is looking dangerous every time he gets the ball and he plays a one-two with Neves then diddles Pereira. But no one gambles when the cross comes over and the ball flies across the face of goal and away.
26 min Wolves win a corner down the left that Leicester struggle to get away. They’re not looking at all solid at set-pieces.
25 min Traore tries to go down the outside of Justin again, but nothing doing, the full-back standing up and standing strong to see him away. Traore wants a foul, but the ref rightly advises him to do one.
24 min Evans slides a pass into midfield for Perez, who’s absolutely flattened by Neves’ glorious teeth-rattler. The ref does well to appraise no foul.
23 min Leicester are warming up and Barnes does well to find Maddison chasing to the line; on the run, he swipes over an excellent low cross that’s fractionally behind Iheanacho.
Updated
22 min Maddison flicks to Perez with the outside of his boot and Perez looks to lay off to Iheanacho, but the flag then goes up.
20 min Iheanacho gets down the left side of the box and has Barnes one over, but he decides to flay a shot off to who knows where instead of finding him.
19 min Better from Leicester, Barnes playing into Iheanacho and dashing across the face of the box to collect the return, but Wolves immediately crowd him out.
18 min Leicester win a free-kick down the right following a foul by Jonny, but Maddison’s cross is directly into the phalanx of defenders and the ball is headed clear.
17 min Leicester are dominating possession but Wolves are much the better side, in that they’re getting the game they want and looking the likelier scorers.
15 min Nice from Leicester, Pereira finding Iheanacho, but Neves is on hand to confiscate possession and Wolves counter, Neto isolating Evans out on the left and megging him like a boss. Line, line, he skips to the line, cuts back ... and Justin does a tremendous job of blocking Traore’s shot. The resultant corner comes to nowt.
13 min Wolves will be happy with their start; Leicester have done very little so far, and are struggling to find the holes. They need to quicken up their passing, but the thing with Wolves is that if you take chances against them, they make you pay by not simply returning the ball so you can start again.
11 min Chance for Wolves! Neto swerves the corner in and it takes a flick at the near post before arriving onto Neves’ boot; it’s not an easy opportunity, but he makes an absolute pig’s posterior of it, blazing a volley high and wide.
10 min Coady slings a ball downfield to Semedo and it eventually works its way one over to Traore, who attacks the outside of Justin ... but Justin comes back at it to concede the corner.
8 min Neto finds himself in a bissel space down the left, but Evans is across quickly to hump into touch.
7 min Leicester haven’t quite got their passing right yet; to get through or around Wolves, one-touch stuff around the box is important, but it’s not quite working for them yet. I actually wonder if 4-4-2 might be a good formation for this match, giving Wolves centre-backs two men to mark without losing the overloads out wide.
5 min Wolves are looking the switch out to Traore; Moutinho has a go but Justin intercepts well, chesting down to clear.
4 min Nice from Maddison, popping a pass into Iheanacho and collecting a return, but his attempted through-ball is just too heavy.
3 min It’s Leicester pushing the pace and Wolves sitting off. Wolves might just be the most frustrating team I’ve ever seen, because they could be so much better and so much more fun with a bit more adventure.
2 min Is Youri Tielemans the youngest-looking player in the league?
1 min Maddison gets on the ball immediately and prompts, then Tielemans wins a throw down right; Pereira takes it and makes down the line for a return pass, but he’s penalised for a foul.
1 min Away we go!
The teams take the knee. All black lives matter.
Here come the teams!
Graeme Souness is wearing a sports jacket and a polo shirt. I’m anticipating an explosion at some point today.
I think, ultimately, Leicester have the numbers and legs in midfield. Wolves could always stick Dendoncker in there and go to a back four, but Nuno said they’d start with a three.
But Wolves can hurt them. If he’s on, Traore can devastate any team, while Neto is improving fast and Jose is showing signs. It’ll be interesting to see how Leicester play them: if they sit back, Wolves will knock it about slowly and wring the life out of the game, but if they push the pace, Wolves will knock it about slowly and wring the life out of the game.
Brendan Rodgers is wearing a jacket, a jumper, a stripy shirt and a tie you can barely see; it’s a rum do I can tell you. He’s pleased to have Vardy back but notes that Iheanacho played really well in midweek, and hopes Ndidi will be involved next midweek. He’s expecting a really good game, and says that Wolves are missing Raul Jimenez because of course they are.
I mentioned Leicester’s full-backs earlier, and the two who start today are probably the best they’ve got. Ricardo Pereira’s injury last season was a bit part of why his team missed out on the Champions League, while James Justin just keeps getting better. Stick Ndidi in for Hamza and Vardy in for Iheanacho, and you’ve got an XI that can match pretty much anyone on a good day. The behind the scenes lads are doing an absolutely phenomenal job.
If Leicester can get a win here, they go level on points with Manchester United, who are second. If they win by six goals, they go second.
Harry Kane and Heung-min Son have put Spurs in charge against West Brom. Rob Smyth has the latest:
Updated
Back to this afternoon’s altercation, it’s not hard to see where the game is for Leicester. I’m absolutely certain they’ll be targeting the space behind Wolves’ wing-backs and loading up their full-backs to get up with Perez and Barnes. Barnes looks like a boy in the process of making the huge step from talent to player, and I’d expect his team to look for him early and often.
Something else not directly related to this game, but suffused and infused with the absolute beauty of football and life:
105 and out. Well batted Grandma Vera 🏏 https://t.co/kjMZr3Y5p2
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) February 7, 2021
Just look at how brilliant these photos are!
We are saddened to learn of the passing of lifelong fan Vera Cohen.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 7, 2021
Vera was a much-loved member of the City family and everyone at the Club would like to send love and best wishes to Vera’s family at this difficult time 💙 pic.twitter.com/MRf0CydUqa
Tangentially, I was always tickled by Sam Allardyce calling Tal Ben-Haim “Ben”, “Ben” meaning “son of”.
Don Goodman is pitchside for Sky, forcing me to recount an anecdote; here goes. In synagogue, when we read from the Torah, we call up a person for each portion, and this is done by referring to them by their Hebrew name and their dad’s Hebrew name, the two separated by the word “ben”, meaning “son of”. One early-90s morning in my youth, drink had been taken, and one of my friends – a Sunderland fan – told the person doing the calling that his Hebrew name was “Don ben Goodman”. His Hebrew name was not and is not “Don ben Goodman”.
As for Leicester, they have Vardy back – he’s on the bench – but Ndidi doesn’t make it so Hamza Choudhury continues in an unchanged XI. I doubt his inclusion in Brendan Rodgers’ team excited him as much as his inclusion in Emma Hayes’.
Nuno says the win over Arsenal has put his team in a better mood and given them more confidence. His team will be sporting a back three, depending on the “dynamic of the game”, and he hopes his team “compete well and play good”. He says Leicester are “very talented” but “we are a good team.”
The big news for Wolves is that Jonny is back after jiggering his cruciate in August. But Boly and the increasingly interesting Podence are out; Dedoncker and Willian Jose come in.
Teams!
Wolverhampton Wanderers (a maddening 3-4-3): Rui Patricio; Coady, Kilman, Dendonker; Semedo, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny; Traore, Jose, Neto. Subs: Ruddy, Hoever, Silva, Gibbs-White, Vitinha, Saiss, Richards, Otasowie, Lonwijk.
Leicester City (a ludicrously likable 4-3-3): Schmeichel; Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Justin; Tielemans, Choudhury, Maddison; Perez, Iheanacho, Barnes. Subs: Ward, Vardy, Albrighton, Amartey, Under, Mendy, Fuchs, Thomas, Daley-Campbell.
Song and dance man: Martin Atkinson (Drighlington)
Updated
Elsewhere, the why don’t people love me enough derby is goalless.
Preamble
Over the last 20 years, football has undergone a data revolution. Everything that can be measured is measured, the aim to tell us what’s happened, what’s going to happen, and how. But sometimes, things turn on chaotic forces that brook neither numeration nor categorisation ... or, put another way, David Luiz.
As half-time approached in Wolves’ midweek game against Arsenal, they looked set to record their sixth defeat in nine winless games, looking more threatening that of late but outplayed nevertheless. Of course, they’re missing Raúl Jiménez – what side wouldn’t? – but since lockdown, they’ve looked stale as well as slow, which stands to reason given the four-year cycle of teams. In fairness, Nuno Espirito Santo has tried to freshen things up, but so far it simply hasn’t worked. But then David Luiz ran across Willian José, turning the match and perhaps Wolves’ season with it.
They would, though, have wanted a far easier game to help them settle into their new life. Leicester sit third in the table and, inspired by James Maddison, are playing with confidence and flair. They have injury issues – Wesley Fofana and Timothy Castagne are absent today – but Jamie Vardy and Wilfred Ndidi should return, making them an extremely taxing proposition.
It is, though, worth noting that even before Luiz’s intervention, Wolves were looking dangerous. Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence are not only talented but improving quickly, and if they play well today, Leicester are in for a hard game. Likewise, Maddison is far from Leicester’s sole form player, and if he, Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemans maintain their level, their team will be hard to stop.
Kick-off: 2pm GMT
Updated
