[NoSkillz]

Sun. December 26, 2021

Barclays Premier League
Manchester City (13-3-1, 42 points, 1st) vs. Dover (10-5-3, 35 points, 3rd)
Man City Stadium, Manchester, UK

Betting Odds: Man City: 1-6 (Favourites) Draw: 5-1 Dover: 10-1
Past Meetings: 0W 1D 6L

I believe City are the only Premier team left that I haven't won a point against - the draw in our past meetings up above was from a preseason friendly. City are the dominant team in world football right now - they've won two Premier League titles in a row, THREE Champions League titles in a row, two League Cups in a row and are also the reigning Club World Championship winners and European Super Cup winners. They started a bit slow in league play this year but have rung up ten consecutive Premier League wins and are rolling. Enrique is back to dominating affairs for City and he has 23 goals in 26 appearances this year but he hasn't scored in his last five games. Midfielder Gylfi Sigurosson is in great form as well with 10 goals on 27 matches. Last year's top scorer Jelle Hoegee, proof of City's incredible depth, only has four goals in 18 matches, 12 of which are as substitutes. City were pretty quiet in the transfer market, actually selling £89 million worth of players, most notably Enzo Zidane and Chris-Michal Bigirimana to Barcelona in deals totalling £78 million. They brought young midfielder Junior over from Barca as well for £10.75 million.

We are HUGE underdogs on the road today and will do everything we can to get a draw if possible - a win is unlikely considering City's form. We'll move to a flat 4-4-2 counter mentality but will keep the exact same lineup that defeated Arsenal. Kostas Kalfas is back to being match fit after missing four weeks with a broken arm and will be on the bench today - Emmerson Harvey is sent back to the U18s.

Dover: 4-4-2 Counter
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, Mancini, N. Cairney, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea, Z. Bardi
Bench - J. Varga, J. Kuciak, P. Tjiuoro, K. Kalfas, A. Zubizarreta, C. Murray, G. Gesios

Well, I can see why Enrique has gone a bit cold lately - City are playing him in the midfield again and it's Yahia Traore playing up front in their 4-5-1 (with DMC). Joe Hart is still tending goal for City as well. I go with my assistant's team talk and say that they can win today.

3' - City get a corner and Wilke has to make two incredible saves, first on a header and second on a rebound in tight from Darko Gusic.

17' - It's pretty much all City at this point and Enrique gets off a low rocket from distance that's just wide.

23' - We get a good chance off a corner, as a scramble ensues near the City goal but their defender clears the ball off the goal line just in time.

25' - OH MY. Bamba gets an incredible through ball to Shanon Andrea and our in-form and lethal striker gets in on Joe Hart, goes around him but with the net at his mercy, he left foots WIDE.

39' - Arsene Bamba makes his daily bone-headed pass and City storm up field on a counter. Their fantastic left winger Sigurosson fires a curling shot from distance and Wilke does well to turn it behind the net.

40' - City have a throw in and Traore has the ball near the byline. He attempts to pass into the middle but the ball deflects off our defenders and is there for the taking. The lethal Enrique shows great off the ball awareness to pounce on the loose change and slip it into the goal. MANCHESTER CITY GOAL 0-1

45' - We have possession deep in their end but Cairney's cross is intercepted and sent out to Sigurosson. He's just on the outer edge of their area and for some reason, he passes back toward Thiago, one of City's midfielders but Shanon Andrea intercepts the pass and with one lethal strike, he pots the ball past Joe Hart for the SHOCKING equalizer! That's Andrea's 20th goal of the season already!!! WOW! DOVER GOAL 1-1

HALFTIME - Umm, you'd never tell from the highlights but we held an INCREDIBLE 61% of possession in the first half and kept up with them after holding off their furious start. They outshoot us 13-11 (4-1 on target). A number of their players are "playing nervously" according to my assistant so we're confounding them a bit so far. I expect them to make some changes, perhaps putting Enrique up at striker. I tell the team I'm pleased - if we keep this up, we may be able to get something from this match.

And I was right - Traore is taken out, midfielder Simon Kjaer comes in and Enrique moves up to striker.

52' - We have a dangerous looking possession in their end but City clear and it's up to Enrique at midfield. His speed is unstoppable, as he just runs right past Hamon and Contreras and in toward goal. He slows up a bit and shoots and Wilke is able to cut the angle down enough to push the ball behind the goal. On the ensuing corner, we look like we're going to head it clear but we mistime the jump and City is able to direct the ball goalward. Wilke is there again in spectacular fashion.

59' - Enrique again, this time with a rocket from distance and Wilke does what he can to stop it. City look to grab the rebound but Contreras clears the ball to safety. We're holding on a bit here.

66' - I guess it was coming. City work the ball in to Thiago and he unleashes a blast that Wilke dives to stop. He's on the ground and the rebound pops right to right winger Giuliano and he makes no mistake putting it into the net and we're behind again. MANCHESTER CITY GOAL 1-2

After the goal, Jelle Hoegee comes on to play striker and Enrique is moved back into midfield.

69' - Hoegee makes his presence felt right away, turning and unleashing a piledriver from the edge of the area that Wilke does well to turn aside.

73' - Time for changes. Giorgos Gesios comes in for Zoltan Bardi and Kostas Kalfas comes in for Mancini, who was great today. We change to a control mentality.

86' - We bring in Aitor Zubizarreta for Gianluca Bolis and move to an overload mentality.

87' - Wow! Gesios takes the ball off a City goal kick and weaves into their penalty area, left footing a blast that Hart is just able to clear above the cross bar. Great chance Gesios! We get the corner and they immediately clear it up the field to Giuliano and he speeds past Salim Loucif and in on goal. His shot is low and Wilke can't make the save. Nice counter and we're done. MANCHESTER CITY GOAL 1-3

90'+2 - Gesios sets a ball out to Zubizarreta and his hard blast is turned aside by Hart.

Good try men.

Manchester City 3 - 1 Dover
Goals - Shanon Andrea (7.2)
Assists -
Man of the Match - Giuliano (Man City AMR - 8.8)
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.8), Mancini (7.3)
Attendance - 62,065

We played well, holding 56% of possession against arguably the best club in the world and they outshot us 24-17 (11-3 on target). A good effort and I tell the players as much. They just have so much elite talent and can strike so fast with their speed.

-- There were a couple of shock results. Cellar dwellers Southampton held United to a 2-2 draw while Middlesbrough shocked Arsenal 2-1 as the Gunners all of a sudden are struggling a bit. We have reached the halfway point of the season and here is how things stand on the table and on the stat sheets:

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 19 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Manchester City - 45 points (18 games)
2. Manchester United - 38 points
3. Dover - 35 points
4. Liverpool - 35 points
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5. Chelsea - 32 points
6. Reading - 32 points (18 games)
7. Arsenal - 31 points (18 games)
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8. Sheffield Wednesday - 31 points
9. Aston Villa - 29 points
10. Tottenham - 28 points
11. Middlesbrough - 28 points
12. Sunderland - 26 points
13. Newcastle - 21 points (31 Games Remaining)
14. Wolves - 20 points
15. Everton - 20 points (18 games)
16. Huddersfield - 18 points (18 games)
17. Blackburn - 17 points
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18. Fulham - 15 points
19. Derby - 13 points (18 games)
20. Southampton - 11 points


-- At this stage last year, we had the same amount of points and the same goal differential. Incredible. We had four more goals scored at this point last year but also four more goals ALLOWED last year. Eerie!

Here's a look at some Barclays Premier League stat leaders

GOALS -
1. Yaya Sanogo, Manchester United, 18
2. Craig Flett, Sunderland, 17
3. Enrique, Manchester City, 15
4. Shanon Andrea, Dover, 14
5. Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea, 14
6. Stanislas Vigneau, Newcastle, 12
7. Hani Megahed, Reading, 10
8. Steve Pates, Sheffield Wednesday, 10
9. Teddy Gallo, Arsenal, 10

-- Gianluca Bolis is tied for 21st with 5 and Zoltan Bardi has 4 to put himself in a tie for 28th despite missing more than half the season so far.

ASSISTS -
1. Arsene Bamba, Dover, 12
2. Omar Hernandez, Man United, 11
3. Bruno, Man City, 8
4. Graham Allan, Blackburn, 8
5. Axel Parisot, Liverpool, 8
6. David Maclennan, Newcastle, 8
FIVE TIED WITH 7

- Andrea Rocca has 5 and is tied for 19th and Giorgos Gesios has 3 which is tied for 39th.

AVERAGE RATING -
1. Omar Hernandez, Man United, 7.82
2. Yaya Sanogo, Man United, 7.72
3. Enrique, Man City, 7.69
4. Craig Flett, Sunderland, 7.64
5. James McCarthy, Tottenham, 7.48
6. Hani Megahed, Reading, 7.46
7. Shanon Andrea, Dover, 7.43
8. Matt Barber, Sunderland, 7.41
9. Bruno, Man City, 7.36
10. Bogdan Marinescu, Man United, 7.35

-- Arsene Bamba is 11th at 7.33, Rayane Hamon is 28th at 7.22, young Claudio Contreras is 30th at 7.20, Andrea Rocca is 35th at 7.17, Salim Loucif and Gianluca Bolis are tied for 37th at 7.15 and Neil Cairney is 43rd with 7.12. Not bad!



Barclays Premier League Team of the Week

-- Rayane Hamon and Zoltan Bardi both do well enough to make the team of the week.



Dover Injury Update

-- Wayne Rooney and Andrea Rocca are both back to light training after their injuries. Rocca will likely take less time to get fully fit, as he's only missed about a month with his back strain while veteran Rooney will likely need extensive time with our reserves to regain full fitness.



Premier League Update

-- There are three Tuesday games in Premier League play, with Arsenal knocking off Derby, United beating Villa and Liverpool oust Blackburn 3-0. Liverpool move provisionally ahead of us into 3rd place with that win.



Next Up

-- Our last game of 2021 sees us head to St. James' Park to face favoured mid-table club Newcastle.