[NoSkillz]

Sat. March 20, 2021

Barclays Premier League
Dover (18-5-7, 59 points, 3rd) vs. Middlesbrough (13-3-14, 42 points, 10th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Middlesbrough: 13-8
Past Meetings: 3W 0D 3L

We are the slightest of favourites against mid-table Middlesbrough…how appropriate! They have won four of their last five in all competitions, with the only loss being a 3-1 loss to Wolves in the 5th round of the FA Cup. Middlesbrough play a defensive style usually and their leading scorer is AM Thorgan Hazard with 9 goals. Luuk de Jong is their most dangerous striker, with 7 goals.

We defeated them 4-1 away earlier this season but we scored three times in the last 30 minutes of that contest to pull away. I'm going with my 4-2-3-1 Control system - my coaches feel I should pull DC Paulus Tjiuoro for lack of form but I will give him another chance - I had a chat with him after his last game, telling him he needs to pull up his socks and play better so I'll give him a chance to respond today. We're fielding a full-strength side today.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, P. Tjiuoro, S. Loucif
M - A. Rocca, N. Cairney
AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis
S - G. Gesios
Bench - J. Varga, J. Kuciak, D. Pratley, Mancini, L. Craig, M. Prochazka, P. Simek

Middlesbrough start with a 4-2-3-1 formation that includes three attacking central midfielders. They are starting Chris Gadi up front (only three goals on the year) but I'm a bit worried about that tight formation. We'll see how we start. I tell the team they can win today and pull aside Tjiuoro (I expect a performance!), Bamba (Pick up where you left off) and Bardi (I have faith in your abilities).

4' - Bamba takes a knock early and is getting treatment on the sidelines. Bolis runs down the right but gives up the ball and Middlesbrough start their counter. They work it up field and Abdullah Demir gets off a piledriver of a blast that Wilke stretches out for and pushes aside.

7' - Middlesbrough are giving us problems with this formation and it's Harry Reinders getting into the box and sending a left foot blast that Wilke is there to stop.

11' - Their forward Gadi is down in our area but we work the ball up field to Cairney. He sends Gesios through and he beats his man into the box before shooting JUST wide. Good chance there and actually surprised our guys didn't kick the ball out of play so Gadi could get medical attention.

16' - We force a turnover and work the ball up to Bamba over midfield. He sends the ball into the middle to Gesios and he sees Gianluca Bolis cutting into the middle. Gesios feeds a delicious ball into Bolis and he rounds the keeper and calmly deposits the ball into the back of the neck. Superlative play from Gesios and Bolis and we take the early lead! DOVER GOAL 1-0

27' - Gadi is sent away down the middle of the field and with defenders all around him, he sends a low blast that Wilke is fortunate enough to turn aside. Wilke is called upon again on the ensuing corner to make another routine save.

HALFTIME - We hold 51% of possession but Middlesbrough are putting us to sleep. We only have four shots on goal and only 2 on target while they have 9 shots and 5 on target. We move to a counter attack with the same formation and I encourage the team in the room.

55' - Not much has changed and Middlesbrough still look the more dangerous team. Thorgan Hazard cuts into our box and sends a nice little touch pass to Gadi. He gets a point blank shot off that Wilke saves and Renato Gaucho is forced to clear behind the net.

63' - We're generating nothing - I change to a flat 4-4-2 counter attacking system.

72' - We work a counter attack and we have a two-on-one with Bolis dribbling down the right and Gesios storming down the middle. Bolis elects to shoot and misses wide in ugly fashion. Our offence today is completely non-existent. Disappointing effort.

I take out Neil Cairney and Zoltan Bardi and bring in Mancini and Petr Simek.

75' - Paulus Tjiuoro gets a yellow card on a challenge.

Other than a few corners, there's not much to talk about - boring, BORING game.

Dover 1 - 0 Middlesbrough
Goals - Gianluca Bolis (7.5)
Assists - Giorgos Gesios (6.9)
Man of the Match - Gianluca Bolis
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.2), Claudio Contreras (7.4), Renato Gaucho (7.3)
Attendance - 15.321

Well, a win is a win. We held the ball for 51% of the game and shots were 12-12 (Dover 4 on target, Middlesbrough 6 on target). They are a tough team to play against.

-- Everyone seemed to win all around us. Chelsea beat Everton, Arsenal beat Derby, Liverpool beat Fulham so among the teams chasing us, nothing much changes.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE 7 GAMES REMAINING)

1. Man City - 82 points
2. Man United - 74 points
3. Dover - 62 points
4. Chelsea - 61 points
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5. Arsenal - 55 points
6. Liverpool - 51 points
7. Everton - 49 points
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8. Reading - 45 points
9. Newcastle - 43 points
10. Middlesbrough - 42 points

-- United joins City as having locked away continental qualification for next year.



Dover U18 Update

-- Our U18 side defeats Havant and Waterlooville 2-0 behind goals from Carlo Cerbone and defender Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz. Cerbone's goal is his 30th (!) of the season in 25 non-competitive matches.



International Call-ups

-- Ten of the twelve players called up for International duty earned caps this week, with only Renato Gaucho and Arsene Bamba not getting into games for Brazil and Ivory Coast respectfully. Jonathan Adam earned his first youth cap for England.



-- The free transfer deadline passes without us making any more deals.



-- Youth team members Gary Cook and Carlo Cerbone both get hurt for a second consecutive week - this time, Cook has food poisoning while Cerbone sprained his wrist. Both should be back within a week or so.



-- We play on Sunday this weekend so we see some decent results come in from the Saturday games: 5th placed Arsenal can only manage a draw at home against Huddersfield and 7th placed Everton are upset 2-1 by Sunderland.



Next Up

-- A Sunday matinee against "in crisis" Aston Villa.