Key events
30 mins: Liverpool have a corner after a Salah volley is blocked. Mac Allister sends in an outswinger but the hosts get rid.
“I have my iPod (yes, it still works) running in the background today. It just shuffled to ‘Close to the Edge’,” emails Joe Pearson from 2014. ‘“Appropriate for Leicester, one supposes.”
28 mins: Ndidi catches Diaz on the ankle and gives away a free-kick 30 yards from goal. Szoboszlai and Mac Allister are over the ball. The Hungarian takes on the shot but it bounces into Hermansen’s arms.
26 mins: Feels a bit like are going through the motions. Slot, I suspect, will want his team to up the tempo a bit here.
24 mins: Bradley has a chance inside the Leicester box but it is blocked and the danger removed.
Van Nistelrooy swears after Faes plays a stunning pass to Mavididi, only to be deemed offside, which he is.
22 mins: Thomas finds Coady at the back post but Liverpool get it clear and almost break through Salah. The Egyptian, however, cannot keep control of the ball.
20 mins: El Khannous dribbles into space on the length, chased by Salah, who needlessly bring him down. Leicester have a free-kick in a dangerous position on the left wing …
18 mins: It all sounds quite subdued at the King Power. Leicester and Liverpool know their fate, removing much of the festive atmosphere.
16 mins: After that brief burst of Leicester attacks, Liverpool are starting to control this game. They are knocking it about without much in the way of pressure.
14 mins: Gakpo is actually playing on the left and Diaz down the middle. The Dutchman is looking quite lively but his latest cross is easily gobbled up by Hermansen.
12 mins: Maybe we will get a few seconds of calm …
Instead Salah crosses from the edge of the box but Coady reads it and heads the ball over his own goal. Konate volleys the resulting corner wide.
11 mins: It is end to end action, resulting in Salah having a shot blocked in the line by a mixture of goalkeeper and defender.
10 mins: Mavididi turns Bradley inside and out before pulling it back to Ndidi, who whacks his shot against the post.
9 mins: Van Dijk attacks a corner but his header is blocked by Faes. It looks like it should be another corner but the last touch is off the Dutchman, a good spot by the ref.
“Glorious Easter Sunday?” asks Richard Hirst. “You should be in SW France where it is cold and windy. And to make matters worse Fulham lost after being in front for 63 minutes compared to Chelsea’s three minutes. I think the basis on which points are awarded needs to be rethought!”
I am available to spend time in SW France.
8 mins: Pereira takes a throw, lifting his back leg off the ground. When I was a lad, that was not allowed.
Van Nistelrooy is on the edge of his technically area offering out instructions to his players and bantering with the fourth official.
6 mins: The hosts have barely had a kick yet but they break down the other end. De Cordova-Reid puts in a cross and El Khannous almost gets on the end of it. Liverpool have got away with one here.
4 mins: There seem to be plenty of empty seats inside the ground. I appreciate Leicester are doing badly but you’d think the champions-elect would get bums on seats.
3 mins: CHANCE! Salah is slipped through by Diaz, he opens up his body and looks to find the bottom corner but hits the inside of the far post and then watches go along the line and ping off the other.
2 mins: It is very sunny in Leicester, which is good news for Foxes fans.
On the downside, Hermansen’s first touch is an awful clearance. The Leicester keeper is thankfully that the pass straight back into the box finds Diaz offside.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
The players are out …
Jeremy Boyce says: “I take Keiran’s [1615] point, but what makes him think he might not be seeing Vardy (a true giant, hero, loyal servant) playing his final days, in the Premier League right here, right now ? Would he be up for a 46 game slog through the Championship one more time ? Just sayin’…”
Kieran McKintosh emails: “Odd coincidence this year that a lot of sides who have previously won the league (City, Man U, Chelsea, Leicester) have had significant wobbles that dent their ambitions. Just saying. It’s a shame. I would have liked to see Jamie Vardy playing the final bit of his career in the top flight.”
Arne Slot: “Arsenal are doing what we expect them to do and hopefully we can do – that is what my focus is on. Leicester might be in a better place now than the last two weeks.
“I saw the first 10 minutes of the Arsenal match. I saw they were 1-0 up and they were playing really good.
“Sometimes when these teams are almost relegation, they play with a bit of freedom. Mostly when players feel freedom, they are dangerous.
“Trent could play for around 20 minutes, depending on the intensity in the game.”
The main man.
I’ve opened the window and all I can now smell is BBQs. What a sacrificing we all making on this glorious Easter Sunday.
Ian Copestake emails: “All this talk of one-sidedness makes it feel like Liverpool are playing Wimbledon again in a certain fina of yore.. It also shows that people follow narratives rather than watch games as playing bottom feeders is exactly the sort of opponent Liverpool struggle against. You’ve been warned.”
I’ve watched enough Leicester this season …
Arsenal have secured all three points, making this King Power matchup less meaningful for Liverpool. Wolves won at Manchester United, meaning anything other than a Leicester win today will send them down to the Championship.
In the other early kick-off, Chelsea won it in injury-time at Fulham to move up to fifth and a Champions League spot.
It is now 4-0 to Arsenal. Put the champagne on ice.
In almost irrelevant news, the actor Stephen Graham is at the King Power Stadium. I suspect the Leeds United side from the Damned United could turn over Leicester today.
Indulge in some Nick Ames before kick-off.
Arsenal are 3-0 up now. Do not get carried away here.
Want a match preview written by me? Probably not but here it is anyway.
Still no Harry Winks in the Leicester squad. Van Nistelrooy does not like chatting about it after reports Winks was originally omitted having fallen out with the Dutchman over a demand to stay at the training ground once a week rather than continue a lengthy commute.
Alexander-Arnold is back in the matchday squad for Liverpool after five weeks out as the days seemingly tick down on his Anfield career.
Starting lineups
Leicester (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Ricardo, Faes, Coady, Thomas; Ndidi, Soumare; El Khannous, De Cordova, Mavididi; Vardy
Subs: Stolarczyk, Justin, Kristiansen, Okoli, Skipp, Buonanotte, Ayew, Daka
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Gravenbech; Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz; Gakpo
Subs: Kelleher, Endo, Nunez, Jones, Elliott, Jota, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah
Preamble
If you are coming here for a Liverpool title confirmation, then Arsenal want a word with you. Instead we will see Leicester get relegated if Liverpool give them the shooing everyone expects.
Obviously, Arne Slot’s side will win the league in the next seven days but Arsenal want to delay the celebrations as long as possible. The Reds have been the best team in the league all season, offering effective and efficient football. Mohamed Salah is their star turn, settling many matches to prove his worth at Anfield, something he will continue to do for a couple more years at least.
We could do some deep analysis on Leicester but they truth is they are utterly dreadful and will most likely be down by the end of the day. Ruud van Nistelrooy completely failed to correct the slide and will have to wonder if it is worth staying on for next season in the Championship.
Let’s hope it is competitive, at least.
Kick-off: 4.30pm BST
