Wolves v Leicester: Premier League – live!

3 mins: Leicester acquaint themselves with the ball before Soyuncu pings a raking pass to Lookman, who drifts in from the left and picks out Tielemans who is arriving into the box bang on time. The layoff is perfect for the Belgian, but he sidefoots timidly wide from 15 yards – poor, really. A good chance wasted

Dean Kinsella tempts fate via email: “Between the trans-pennine battle earlier and the north/south encounter at the Etihad yesterday we’ve been royally entertained this weekend. No pressure on keeping the level up here today!”

1 min: Both sides take the knee before kickoff, and then we’re away. Wolves ping the ball about between their defense for a bit before Aït-Nouri strides upfield into the Leicester half and gets a throw for his troubles.

A bit of a clash of styles today. Attack v defense. Grit v flare. Patience v haste. Michael Haneke v Michael Bay. HBO v ITV. James Joyce v John Grisham. Who’s your money on?

Rodgers says Harvey Barnes is not involved today because he’s carrying a knock from Thursday. The weather at Molineux is wet and windswept – which often means the football can be fun and frenzied. Here’s hoping.

And another must-read preview from Jonathan Wilson, on Brendan Rodgers’ need to arrest the slump:

Some fascinating pre-match readingon the fraternal alliance fueling Wolves’ rise up the table:

The final whistle has gone at Elland Road, where Manchester United have won a very tasty derby-not-derby. More here:

So Wolves make one change from last week’s smash-and-grab defeat of Spurs, the fit-again Joao Moutinho coming in for Luke Cundle in midfield. For Leicester, James Maddison is only fit enough for the bench after a bout of illness and Patson Daka keeps his place ahead of Kelechi Iheanacho after his goalscoring display in Europe on Thursday.

Kundle was great last week but Moutinho’s return adds know-how to a strong-looking Wolves engine room. Leicester’s midfield is not short of quality either, of course, but lots will depend on whether Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall can step up alongside Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi in Leicester’s attempts to raise the game’s tempo.

Wolves: Sa; Semedo, Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Ait-Nouri, Dendoncker, Neves, Moutinho; Jimenez, Podence.
Subs: Ruddy, Marcal, Neto, Trincao, Silva, Jonny, Toti, Hwang, Cundle.

Leicester: Schmeichel; Ricardo, Amartey, Soyuncu, Thomas; Dewsbury-Hall, Tielemans, Ndidi; Lookman, Albrighton, Daka.
Subs: Ward, Jakupović, Vestergaard, Choudhury, Mendy, Soumaré, Maddison, Pérez, Iheanacho.

Brendan Rodgers once said that management is like “trying to build an aircraft while it’s in flight”. Should Leicester’s recent form continue for much longer, he may soon be stranded on a desert island whittling a life-raft for his coaching career.

Perhaps that’s overstating the case a bit – Rodgers’ pedigree remains high – but his third season at Leicester has been an object lesson in how quickly an ostensibly excellent team can hit the skids. His previously freewheeling FA Cupholders have won just seven Premier League games all season, amassed 13 points since the start of November and are currently winless in four. Any hopes of retaining their FA Cup went extinguished with last month’s tonking by their Midlands rivals.

Much of the blame for this tailspin can be placed on a backline responsible for the worst defensive record outside the bottom seven. And should Rodgers be in the markets for advice on the matter, he could do a lot worse than consult his opposite number today.

If Bruno Lage’s Wolves have gone relatively unnoticed, it’s because they have not quickened the pulses of too many neutrals. They score very few goals and they consider even fewer. No one will ever describe them as freewheeling. But right now, having flown for much of the season under the radar, Lage’s sensibly constructed aircraft is climbing with steady resolve. Three points today would lift them above Spurs and, when games in hand are accounted for, confirm their place in the annual mad dash for the top four.

Leicester can entertain no such ambitions for now. They need a win to boost morale and to quieten the growing whispers about Rodgers’ three-year life cycle, But Thursday’s hammering of Randers was a reminder that this side is not short of flair, finesse or goals. If they can show that today, at the home of the Premier League’s foremost asphyxiators, then the Rodgers project will remain airborne and the turbulence becalmed… for now. Stay tuned!