[NoSkillz]

Sat. February 14, 2026

Barclays Premier League
Dover (23-1-1, 70 points, 1st) vs. Sheffield United (3-3-19, 12 points, 20th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 1-6 (Favourites) Draw: 5-1 Sheffield United: 10-1
Past Meetings: 6W 2D 2L

Sheffield United are destined for the drop, sitting a full 13 points from safety with only 13 games remaining. Their leading scorer is striker Angel Egana, with SIX goals and then they have four players with 2 goals. That’s just pathetic. This is a bad team and we should throttle them at home but we did only beat them 2-0 earlier in the year.

Their manager smartly talks about Chiquinho being a key man and he’s NEVER played well when called out in the press so he’s on the bench today. Manuel Lugo will start up front with Paul Moses. We make one other change to our starting eleven, bringing in Arsene Bamba for Mads Pedersen. We have a big Champions League game in Italy in midweek and we’ll be conscious of that today if we get out to a big lead.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - Rafinha, C. Contreras, M. Mutesa, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, B. Raab, S. De la Vega
S - P. Moses, M. Lugo
Bench - Renato Gaucho, A. Torres, R. Lopez, P. Secchi, Jose, M. Pedersen, Chiquinho

Defensive 4-2-2-2 formation from United, with two DMCs. Egana is up front with Ton Wetzel and Adrian Smith is their keeper. Lets play well for the home fans today.

5’ - Off a throw in, it’s two additions to the lineup that prove their worth, as Manuel Lugo crosses into the area and there is Arsene Bamba heading it past Smith and IN! Excellent start men! DOVER GOAL 1-0

19’ - We strike again and it’s Lugo the architect for a second time, as he sends a delightful ball up field to Paul Moses and he makes no mistake, putting it past Smith and in! DOVER GOAL 2-0

HALFTIME - We’re once again playing well, as we seem to be over our mini slump from a couple weeks ago. I’d like to be ahead by more but we’re in complete control, with 57% of the ball and a 19-4 (6-1 on target) shot advantage.

55’ - Off a throw in, we get the ball to Neil Cairney in the middle then he feeds Moses. From just outside the area, he turns and fires a low shot that is perfectly placed in the corner of the goal. That’s two for Moses today and 30 on the year! DOVER GOAL 3-0

74’ - We steal the ball at midfield and once again, it’s Cairney getting it up to Moses. That man makes a brilliant move to shake the defender, dribbles in on goal and left foots it past Smith and IN! HAT TRICK FOR MOSES!! DOVER GOAL 4-0

We bring in Rodolfo Lopez and take out a complacent Sergio De la Vega.

Solid.

Dover 4 - 0 Sheffield United
Goals - Paul Moses 3 (9.6), Arsene Bamba (8.1)
Assists - Neil Cairney 2 (9.0), Manuel Lugo 2 (8.9)
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.7), Mwemere Mutesa (7.6), Claudio Contreras (7.6), Rafinha (7.4), Sergio De la Vega (7.0), Benedikt Raab (7.4)
Attendance - 22,131

I’m just delighted with the way Neil Cairney is starting to play, as he’s earned a prolonged stretch in the first team with his fine recent performances, relegating Jose to the bench. Awesome game from Moses and Lugo up front and even defenders like Rafinha and Mwemere Mutesa are earning their spot in our main starting eleven over incumbents Renato Gaucho and Rayane Hamon. It’s an interesting time and with a Champions League match coming up this week, it will be interesting to see who I decide to start in that game. Here, we held 54% of possession and held a 30-7 (9-1 on target) shot advantage.

-- In other action, Liverpool upend Middlesbrough 2-0, Everton hold Spurs to a 2-2 draw, Man United defeat Arsenal 3-0, Sheffield Wednesday shock Chelsea 2-1 and Man City beat Villa 2-0. Arsenal fire their manager after the loss, as they continue their free fall this season.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 26 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Dover - 73 points
2. Manchester United - 62 points
3. Manchester City - 58 points
4. Liverpool - 54 points
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5. Tottenham - 45 points (after 25 games)
6. Chelsea - 41 points
7. Sheffield Wednesday - 37 points
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Transfer Clause Money IN

-- We built in a clause that would see Evian TG FC in France pay us £500,000 if Lyubomir Kunchev played in 20 league games and Kunchev just passed that milestone. We end up having to give the team we bought Kunchev from, AS Saint-Etienne 30% of that due to a clause THEY had in our deal but that’s a nice haul for us either way. Kunchev, incidentally, is playing quite well in France, with 5 goals and 12 assists in 29 matches - good for him!



Team of the Week

-- Three of our players get named to the team of the week: Paul Moses, Manuel Lugo and Neil Cairney get the honour.



Champions League Update

-- There are some juicy match ups in the round of 16 and a shocker sees Chelsea beat Barcelona 2-0 to take a commanding lead in the second leg, which will be in Spain. Man City knock off Galatasaray 1-0 away to take command heading home.



Next Up

-- We’re off to Italy and are rare underdogs, as we face Sampdoria in the first knockout stage of the Champions League.