Leicester City v West Ham United: Premier League – live

50 min: Crystal Palace have won 1-0 at Ipswich Town. Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal on the hour the difference. Meanwhile back at the King Power, Coufal’s poor clearing header falls to Vardy, six yards out. Vardy’s instant header sails wide right.

49 min: Alvarez, quarterbacking in the pocket, wedges a delightful ball down the middle and into the box for Kudus, who meets the dropping ball by steering a header weakly wide left. No real loss, given the flag pops up correctly for offside.

47 min: Soler plays a loose ball across the face of his own box. McAteer nips away with it, down the left, but can’t find Vardy in the centre. McAteer’s final ball has been poor so far. Had he been on his game tonight, Vardy may already be celebrating a hat-trick.

Leicester get the second half underway. West Ham had 20 shots in the first half, Leicester just three. But Jamie Vardy’s made the difference at the sharp end. With this in mind – and Danny Ings having been carrying an injury – West Ham send on Crysencio Summerville.

Half-time entertainment.

HALF TIME: Leicester City 1-0 West Ham United

45 min +4: Buonanotte has the chance to send McAteer free down the inside-right channel, but his attempt to thread a ball between Mavropanos and Kilman goes wrong. West Ham go up the other end, and Hermansen flaps at a high ball, but Alvarez isn’t able to take advantage, the box too crowded to get a shot away. And that’s that for the opening period.

45 min +2: Coufal takes a heavy touch and lunges after the ball. He clips Vardy, and goes into the book. The challenge was a little high, but not egregiously so.

45 min: There will be four additional first-half minutes.

44 min: A brief stoppage because Soucek and Justin clashed heads back there. Vaseline is applied, and both players are back up and running.

43 min: Mavropanos strides down the right and floats a diagonal cross towards Soucek, who flaps a header over from ten yards.

41 min: Vardy, ambling down the left, shows the ball to Mavropanos before turning on the jets, leaving the defender behind and reaching the byline. He stands up a cross that nobody in blue reacts to. Had either McAteer or Buonanotte kept up with play, they’d have had a tap-in.

39 min: A goal in tonight’s other match. Jean-Philippe Mateta has given Crystal Palace the lead on the hour at Ipswich.

37 min: Vardy attempts to nick the ball away from Mavropanos, as the West Ham defender ushers it out for a throw. Vardy takes the man instead, and goes into the book. No malice, just bad timing.

36 min: … Soler lashes wide left from the edge of the box. Had that been on target, Hermansen, rooted to the spot, wasn’t getting there. West Ham must be wondering how they’ve still not scored.

35 min: Alvarez fizzes a low cross in from the right. Bowen opens his body and hits a first-time sidefoot towards the bottom-right corner. Hermansen does exceptionally well to get down and divert the ball out for a corner, from which …

34 min: Bowen bursts down the right, but can’t find Coufal with a flick infield. Leicester only half clear, allowing Kudus to shoot from the edge of the D. His effort is blocked.

32 min: Leicester play it around the back slowly before suddenly springing forward. Buonanotte pings a pass down the inside-right channel for McAteer, who reaches the box ahead of Mavropanos. McAteer attempts to poke the ball past the out-rushing Fabianski, but can’t manage it. Vardy, in the middle, may raise that during the half-time debrief.

30 min: El Khannouss and Buonanotte combine crisply and cutely on the break, and then the ball’s swept right for McAteer, who has Vardy in space in the middle. But McAteer hesitates, allowing the West Ham defence to regroup, and he’s forced to turn tail. The crowd groan at the unravelling of an otherwise flowing move.

28 min: Bowen, making good down the right, whistles an inviting low cross through Leicester’s six-yard box. Ings was on the back foot. Any touch and that was in. Ings holds his head in his hands, a great opportunity gone begging. West Ham have done everything but score.

27 min: Wan-Bissaka sends Kudus scampering into space down the left. Kudus whips a fine cross towards Soucek, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Soucek rises and plants a header inches wide of the top-right corner. The away fans momentarily celebrate a goal, much to the delayed amusement of the home support. That wasn’t far away at all. Hermansen wasn’t getting to it.

25 min: West Ham pass it around, this way and that. They’re playing some decent stuff. El Khannouss tries to put a stop to the lengthy period of possession but only manages to clank the ball out for a corner. But from the set piece, Leicester break through Buonanotte down the right. Wan-Bissaka saves the day with a last-ditch slide tackle.

23 min: Space for McAteer down the right. He’s got Vardy unmarked in the middle, ten yards out, but his cross sails miles over his team-mates head. Vardy spins around in frustration.

22 min: Soumare clatters into Soler from behind. Into the book he goes. The crowd aren’t happy, given the non-decision over the aforementioned Buonanotte-Kilman incident, but in and of itself, a yellow is fair enough.

21 min: West Ham come back at Leicester through Bowen, who shoots from a tight angle on the right. Hermansen kicks clear, a decent save.

20 min: Coufal whips a cross in from the right. Vestergaard hacks clear, with Kudus and Ings lurking. Probably just as well the hosts dealt with that, because Buonanotte was unceremoniously bundled off the ball earlier in the move by Kilman, a challenge that looked like a free kick all day long.

18 min: Leicester play it around the back patiently, in the fashionable style. The crowd want Justin to bomb forward, down the right flank, but the defender sticks to the plan. A few groans. Tough crowd.

16 min: Kudus and Alvarez one-two their way down the right. Coufal is fed on the overlap and sends a low cross into Hermansen’s arms. West Ham are losing, but on the balance of play, they’ve been the better team so far.

14 min: West Ham have responded well to conceding the early goal. They couldn’t have come much closer to equalising in short order.

13 min: Soler is skittled by Ndidi on the left. Leicester prepare for a ball pumped into the box, but the free kick’s taken short, and Alvarez advances on the box. He shoots. Blocked. Bowen latches onto the rebound, and crosses from the right. Ings rises six yards out and sends a downward header crashing off the base of the post. Kilman tries to force the loose ball home but Vestergaard blocks and the hosts bundle clear.

11 min: West Ham are getting plenty of joy down the right. Bowen cuts in from the flank and aims a low curler towards the far stick. Hermansen tips around for West Ham’s first corner of the game. Nothing comes of the set piece. Good game, this.

9 min: Coufal finds a bit of space down the right and crosses for Kudus, who heads over from six yards. Or did Justin get there first to deflect out for a corner? Think so, yes. But the referee doesn’t. West Ham furious.

8 min: Kristiansen, tucked tight on the left touchline, rolls a pass infield and Vardy’s away again! Vardy tries to round the keeper on the left, then dinks, the ball deflected by Fabianski into the side netting. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.

7 min: Mavropanos tries to redeem himself by battling down the inside-right channel but his pass towards Coufal is blocked. West Ham come again, though, Bowen seemingly upended to the right of the D. But there’s no whistle, so Soucek latches onto the loose ball and blazes over wildly.

5 min: VAR breaking the space-time continuum there. But 1 minute and 39 seconds it is.

GOAL! Leicester 1-0 West Ham (Vardy 2)

3 min: … but VAR are checking it, because Mavropanos might have been playing Vardy onside. This is going to be very tight. In fact, the naked eye suggests this goal will stand. But we await the rulers.

2 min: So, that 0-0 draw … Vardy bursts down the inside-left channel. He’s clear. He reaches the box, opens his body, and slots across Fabianski and into the bottom-right corner. But the flag immediately goes up. Offside.

West Ham get the ball rolling. Fabianski launches it long and his team-mates quickly lose it. “As these two clubs conceded nine between them at the weekend, let’s hope that Ruud’s presence inspires more goals, goals, goals,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “There, I’ve gone and jinxed it. Now, what price are they offering for a 0-0 draw?”

The teams are out! Leicester in blue, West Ham in claret. The managers embrace warmly on an otherwise chilly evening. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.

Julen Lopetegui talks to Amazon. “We choose this line-up thinking they are ready to face this challenge … Niclas Füllkrug is on the bench because he can play a few minutes … we are happy because he is back, but we have to go step by step … consistency is always important … we know we face a strong team at home with a new coach … a big challenge … we have to be our best version … we have to focus on ourselves … we are aware Leicester are a good team.”

Ruud van Nistelrooy speaks to Amazon Prime. “It’s been a bit hectic! … long days, a lot needs to happen … get to know each other as much as possible … right from the first conversation I have had with the owner, it is very positive … the club, players and facilities … it’s amazing … everything at the highest level … Enzo [Maresca] is a good friend of mine, that helped a lot to move forward [and take the job] … we will press at the right moments … then go forward … good pressure and counter attacks … the goal is staying in the Premier League … we can achieve that.”

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first Leicester starting XI sees four changes to the side sent out to face heavy defeat at Brentford. Jannik Vestergaard, Victor Kristiansen, Bilal El Khannouss and Kasey McAteer take the places of Wout Faes, Caleb Okoli, Luke Thomas and Jordan Ayew, all of whom drop to the bench. Harry Winks is still recovering from a groin problem.

Julen Lopetegui makes five changes after the 5-2 debacle against Arsenal. Back in: Vladimír Coufal, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Edson Álvarez, Danny Ings and, returning from his five-game ban for that meltdown at Spurs, Mohammed Kudus. Crysencio Summerville, Michail Antonio, Lucas Paquetá and Emerson Palmieri drop to the bench, while Jean-Clair Todibo is out injured.

The teams

Preamble