Under the Italian, Leicester lost just three games in their title-winning 2015-16 season, finishing ahead of Arsenal by 10 points, and no revisionism can destroy the achievements of Ranieri and the team he called his band of brothers. A week after the 4-1 thrashing of Manchester United, Watford showed their unpredictability.

Leicester had already threatened before James Maddison gave them the lead in the 16th minute.

It was an inexplicable lack of concentration by Watford centre-half William Troost-Ekong, ducking to avoid Jonny Evans’s lofted pass and allowing Maddison, who was unmarked, to beat Daniel Bachmann with a half-volley.

Going forward, however, Watford did present Leicester with some nervy moments. They had already come close to an equaliser when a Cucho Hernandez shot struck a post, after a deflection.

Yet under a minute later, Watford were awarded a penalty after Wilfred Ndidi upended Emmanuel Dennis in the area, and Josh King’s strike from 12 yards was clinical.

Just when it appeared Watford were in the ascendancy, Leicester regained the lead after a brilliantly instinctive finish from Vardy.

Maddison’s pass over the Watford defence left Vardy with much to do but, as Bachmann raced off his line, the striker dinked the ball over the goalkeeper into the unguarded net.