Wolves v Leicester City: Premier League – live!

And now it’s the turn of Claude Puel. “It will be fascinating to see how Harvey Barnes starts the game. He has good qualities. I hope he can give his best, with the character and personality he showed at West Bromwich. We have shown a lot of quality in other games and now we have to find a good consistency. We can go seventh and that is our only focus today.”

Nuno speaks to Sky Sports, and is asked why Matt Doherty isn’t in the starting XI. “Cos Jonny’s gonna play. Options, options, I’m always trying to better the team. We are totally confident that the decisions we make are the right ones. We have a small squad but a versatile enough one to know that when a player is missing we have other options, and we can maintain our performance. Today is a tough challenge, Leicester is a good team and we look forward to playing them.”

Harvey Barnes makes his first start in the Premier League for Leicester City today. This is what the 21-year-old midfielder will find in the Molineux away dressing room. Hopefully superstition isn’t an issue for the young man, because the way his shirt’s been folded, the bottom of the numbers aren’t in view. And those socks have been paired to different lengths. It’s chaos. Who could concentrate in the face of such disorder? I’d be spinning like a top. A free bottle of calming isotonic pop, though, so it’s swings and roundabouts.

Two changes for Wolves off the back of their 3-0 defeat at the Etihad. Romain Saiss and Ruben Vinagre take the place of the suspended Willy Boly and the benched Matt Doherty, neither of whom particularly covered themselves in glory on Monday night.

Leicester make three changes to the team that lost 2-1 at home to Southampton last Saturday. Danny Simpson, Demarai Gray and Harvey Barnes replace James Maddison, Marc Albrighton and Hamza Choudhary, who all drop to the bench. Barnes, who impressed on his recent loan spell at West Brom, makes his first Premier League start for the club.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Rui Patricio, Bennett, Coady, Dendoncker, Jonny, Saiss, Neves, Ruben Vinagre, Joao Moutinho, Jimenez, Jota.
Subs: Doherty, Ivan Cavaleiro, Helder Costa, Gibbs-White, John Ruddy, Giles, Traore.

Leicester City: Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Maguire, Chilwell, Mendy, Ndidi, Ricardo Pereira, Gray, Barnes, Vardy.
Subs: Evans, Iheanacho, Maddison, Albrighton, Ward, Fuchs, Choudhury.

Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire).

Wolverhampton Wanderers are one of the success stories of the season. No doubt about that. Last year’s Championship winners are in no danger of going back down. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team can beat the best of them on their day: they’ve taken a point off the champions Manchester City, won at Spurs, and knocked league leaders Liverpool out of the cup. The 1954, 1958 and 1959 champions of England are back, baby!

Even so, their recent form hasn’t been so hot. Beating Tottenham just after Christmas was some result, but it’s their only win in their last five Premier League outings. That sequence has seen them well beaten at home by Liverpool and Crystal Palace, scrape a draw at Fulham, and lose heavily at Manchester City. They could do with a big result here to get themselves back into the top half of the table.

Midlands rivals Leicester City may well oblige. The 2016 Premier League winners been dismal of late, losing at home in the league to Cardiff and Southampton, and getting themselves knocked out of the FA Cup by Newport, the biggest shock of the third round. Claude Puel isn’t popular with the punters and the pressure is rising. He’ll take heart from the way his unpredictable side occasionally hit a rich seam of form – they saw off Manchester City on Boxing Day, then won at Chelsea. Also the Foxes have only lost two of their last 13 matches against Wolves, a run that includes a 2-0 win at the start of this campaign and victory on penalties in the League Cup to boot.

Not so easy to predict this one, then. That’s 11th versus eighth for you. It’s on!

Kick off: 12.30pm GMT.