Watford concede four away at Leicester City

James Maddison was gifted the opening goal of the game by a huge defensive error before Joshua King levelled from the spot.

Jamie Vardy restored the home side’s lead just moments later however, before adding his second and the home side’s third prior to half time.

Emmanuel Dennis reduced the arrears with a tidy finish midway through the second half, but Ademola Lookman swiftly restored the two-goal cushion with a tap in to send Watford home empty handed.

Claudio Ranieri kept his team selection as close to the one that thrashed Manchester United 4-1 last week as he could, but injuries to Ismaila Sarr, Nicolas Nkoulou and Ben Foster forced him to make three changes.

Cucho Hernandez, William Troost-Ekong and Daniel Bachmann came in to replace the sidelined trio.

Ranieri was given a warm reception by the home fans ahead of kick off, as he returned to the club he led to the Premier League title as 5000/1 underdogs for the first time as an opposition head coach.

However the snow soon left him feeling cold, as did Watford's performance, with defensive problems again preventing his side from building on their recent positives.

It was Ranieri's former club who started the game with the clearer levels of intent, with Vardy drawing a save from Bachmann in only the third minute after Lookman had slipped him in behind Troost-Ekong with an incisive pass.

However, the Hornets didn’t allow the hosts to build up much of a head of steam before they began to cause some problems of their own.

Some good hold up play in the area from Moussa Sissoko allowed him to create enough space to find Dennis with a square ball in the box, only for the Nigerian’s shot to be deflected over the bar.

A foul on Imran Louza soon after provided Tom Cleverley with the chance to whip a free kick in from about 35 yards out on the right-hand side. Troost-Ekong climbed highest to meet the delivery, but headed over.

Where he had succeeded in winning a header in attack, Troost-Ekong missed one in defence, which ended up costing his side dearly.

A free kick from inside the Leicester half was hoofed downfield by Jonny Evans and instead of heading away, the defender inexplicably ducked and allowed the ball to run to Maddison, who turned and drilled past Bachmann into the bottom corner.

Watford reacted well to going down however and continued to attack.

First, Hernandez hit a free kick into the wall after he was tripped on the edge of the area, with the ricochet falling kindly to Dennis, only for Kasper Schmeichel to get down and deny his shot with a strong right hand.

Then Adam Masina headed into the side netting on the end of a Cleverley free kick after Kiko Femenia was fouled out on the right.

Snow had began to fall by this point in the match, but both sides were still keen to turn the heat up on their opponents.

Vardy threatened to double the home side’s lead with a glanced header on the end of a Timothy Castagne cross from the right, before the woodwork prevented Hernandez’s deflected shot from range from nestling in the back of the net.

However, Watford found themselves level again shortly before the half hour mark when Dennis was felled by an ill-timed challenge by Wilfred Ndidi. King calmly dispatched away to Schmeichel’s left.

Their new-found parity would last just six minutes, with Leicester regaining the lead through a moment of brilliance from Maddison and Vardy.

A clipped pass in behind from the midfielder saw the number nine lift the ball elegantly over the on-rushing Bachmann from a tight angle, and into the far corner of the net.

The goal seemed to give the Foxes renewed vigour and they twice went close before finally extending their lead.

First Evans nodded wide on the end of a corner after Troost-Ekong almost turned Vardy’s cross from the left into his own net, under no real pressure.

Then Maddison flashed a shot across Bachmann’s goal from a tight angle, only to shoot beyond the back stick.

The pressure was made to count three minutes before the break when Vardy got on the end of Maddison’s corner from the left, ahead of King, to flick the ball over Bachmann and into the far side of the net.

Vardy should have completed his hat-trick before the break after Harvey Barnes’ through ball played the striker in behind Craig Cathcart, only for Bachmann to deny him with a smart stop.

At half time, Ranieri made two changes to try and inject some much-needed threat into Watford’s attack. Joao Pedro and Ozan Tufan came on in place of Cleverley and Louza.

They should have reduced the deficit three minutes after the restart when Hernandez picked the pocket of Castagne, but instead of shooting dithered on the ball before passing to King, who couldn’t beat Schmeichel at the back post.

The snow had continued to fall since it had started midway through the first half and had become increasingly heavy during the second, with the lines of both penalty areas vanishing underneath the weather.

Maddison tried to make the most of the reduced vision with two shots from distance, one deflected wide off the back of Masina, the other saved by Bachmann.

At the other end Pedro went close to pulling a goal back for Watford on the end of a mazy run.

The Hornets did manage to get a second goal soon after when Dennis nicked the ball off Castagne and clipped over Schmeichel, with VAR rightly deciding there had been no foul in the build up, despite protests from the home supporters.

But their hopes of getting back into the match were almost immediately dashed with Lookman adding the Leicester's fourth on the end of a neat move down the left, that ended with Barnes rolling the ball across to the goalscorer, who couldn't miss from six yards out.

Watford perhaps had a right to feel aggrieved by a heavy challenge by Castagne on Masina in the build up, but they also ought to have defended it better than they had.

Pedro and fellow substitute Ashley Fletcher both tried their luck with shots from distance as the game neared its conclusion, but Schmeichel kept out the Brazilian's effort easily, while the former Middlesbrough man fired well over the top.

Tufan had a chance to poke home on the end of a Femenia cross from deep, but only helped the ball flash past the far post.

Vardy again went close to completing his hat-trick before full time with a curling shot from the corner of the 18-yard box, but Bachmann kept it out and the game finished 4-2, despite seven minutes of stoppage time, awarded due to breaks in play required to clear snow off the pitch.