Leicester 1-0 Wolves: Player ratings as Foxes win Midlands showdown

Jamie Vardy's thumping first-time finish was enough for Leicester to beat Wolves at the King Power Stadium on the opening weekend of the 2021/22 Premier League season.

Vardy had a goal ruled out for offside in the opening 15 minutes, before being thwarted by Conor Coady moments later when through on goal.

The best chance of the first half fell to Adama Traore, but he somehow sent his effort wide when slipped through one-on-one with Kasper Schmeichel.

And Wolves were made to pay when Vardy opened the scoring just before half-time, volleying home to convert Ricardo Pereira's perfect cross.

Francisco Trincao came close to opening his Wolves account at the start of the second half, but Caglar Soyuncu made a great recovery challenge to deny the Barcelona loanee a dream debut.

Wolves never really did enough to trouble Leicester in the end, with centre-back Max Kilman missing a couple of half-chances and Conor Coady putting the ball in the net but was well offside. Leicester clung on to claim the three points.

Leicester City player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & Defenders

Kasper Schmeichel (GK) - 6/10 - Rarely troubled today after a busy summer with Denmark.

Ricardo Pereira (RB) - 7/10 - Constant menace down the right flank and did superbly to set up Vardy. Hopefully his injury problems are a thing of the past and one of the league's best right-backs is back for good.

Daniel Amartey (CB) - 6/10 - Some sloppy passing but did his job fine. Will likely be replaced in the starting lineup by Jannik Vestergaard in weeks to come.

Caglar Soyuncu (CB) - 7/10 - Made a vital challenge to deny Trincao and was the better of Leicester's centre-backs.

Luke Thomas (LB) - 6/10 - Largely kept Trincao and Ki-Jana Hoever quiet.

2. Midfielders

Wilfred Ndidi (CM) - 6/10 - Did nothing of note, but even that was enough to ensure Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves couldn't pull the strings.

Youri Tielemans (CM) - 7/10 - Par-for-the-course game for Tielemans, who was tidy without being spectacular.

James Maddison (AM) - 7/10 - Always looked dangerous in possession, but disappointingly substituted after an hour.

3. Forwards

Ayoze Perez (RW) - 6/10 - Role was reduced with Pereira, Maddison and Harvey Barnes heavily taking on creative responsibilities.

Jamie Vardy (CF) - 8/10 - Even at age 34, Vardy always finds a way to make himself a nuisance. Was well deserving of his superb goal.

Harvey Barnes (LW) - 7/10 - Like Maddison, was continually searching and probing for a way in behind the Wolves defence.

4. Substitutes

Boubakary Soumare (CM) - 5/10 - Came on and tried to showcase his ball-carrying, but was quite wasteful in doing so.

Jannik Vestergaard (CB) - 5/10 - Missed a header from a Wolves cross that almost proved costly.

Kelechi Iheanacho (CF) - N/A

Wolves player ratings

5. Goalkeeper & Defenders

Jose Sa (GK) - 7/10 - Tested a few times and was equal to everything except Vardy's belting strike.

Romain Saiss (CB) - 6/10 - Only real contributions to the game were a few headers he won in Leicester's box from set pieces.

Conor Coady (CB) - 6/10 - Wasn't shocking but was hardly a defender befitting of a place in England's Euro 2020 squad either.

Max Kilman (CB) - 7/10 - Made a couple of important challenges and looked the most comfortable centre-back on the ball. Even had a couple of decent chances at the end to snatch a point.

6. Midfielders & Wing-Backs

Ki-Jana Hoever (RWB) - 5/10 - Found it hard to get into the game and made little impact.

Ruben Neves (CM) - 6/10 - Had a couple of pot-shots and recycled possession, but couldn't pick the lock to unlock Leicester's defence.

Joao Moutinho (CM) - 5/10 - Couldn't keep up and was eventually replaced by Leander Dendoncker.

Marcal (LWB) - 6/10 - Created a lot out of very little and was one of Wolves' best outlets - which is testament to how poor they were.

7. Forwards

Francisco Trincao (RW) - 4/10 - Flashes of potential, but little else. Has got to do a lot more to adequately fill Pedro Neto's boots.

Raul Jimenez (CF) - 5/10 - First competitive game since fracturing his skull. Tried to drop deep and link play at times but had little support.

Adama Traore (LW) - 4/10 - Squandered Wolves' best chances and was a nuisance - but to the dismay of his own side rather than Leicester.

8. Substitutions

Leander Dendoncker (CM) - N/A

Morgan Gibbs-White (AM) - N/A

Fabio Silva - (CF) - N/A