[NoSkillz]

Sat. December 18, 2021

Barclays Premier League
Dover (8-5-3, 29 points, 4th) vs. Derby (2-4-9, 10 points, 19th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: Evens (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Derby: 11-5
Past Meetings: 5W 0D 2L

Derby promoted back up from the Championship this year but are favourites to head back down again. They did spend a few bucks in the transfer market, most notably on Watford MC Dean Parrett but he's struggled to find playing time so far. Striker Niels Hendriks leads the team with 6 goals in 11 games. They just beat Middlesbrough 3-1 last week but that was their first win in ages. This is a team we need to beat - they'll likely play very close to the vest today and could prove tough to break down.

We have another game in three days against Arsenal so I'll be putting a few key players on the bench today to try to save them for that one. Most notably, I'm going to give goalkeeper Youssouf Sylla his first Premier League start today. This is a big risk but he's played better recently in reserves games and we're playing the lowest scoring team in the league. Salim Loucif is back from injury and will start. I'm going with a one striker formation today and Giorgos Gesios will get the start up front. Shanon Andrea, our leading scorer, will watch from the bench and I can bring him on later - I need him for that Arsenal game. Neil Cairney is back from injury/suspension as well and will start alongside Shaun Spall, as Andrea Rocca will be out another couple weeks at least. Aitor Zubizarreta will start at AMR for the ineffective Gianluca Bolis - hopefully the game off will wake him up.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - Y. Sylla
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - S. Spall, N. Cairney
AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, A. Zubizarreta
S - G. Gesios
Bench - J. Kuciak, P. Tjiuoro, Mancini, S. Nasri, C. Murray, G. Bolis, S. Andrea

Derby are in their patented 3-5-2 formation and they often drop back into a 5-3-2. Hendriks is up front. I want to demand a win against this sad sack team but with odds that are relatively close, I'll go with my assistant again and just say it's a winnable game.

3' - A good start for us. Arsene Bamba has seen two crosses already come to him in the box and he's narrowly missed scoring on both headers.

8' - We win a corner and it's Bamba taking the kick. He sends it right to toward the goalkeeper and GIORGOS GESIOS, with a rare header, puts it into the net!!! A hopeful SLUMP BUSTER for Gesios! DOVER GOAL 1-0

As expected, Derby drop into a 5-3-2 formation.

21' - Shaun Spall gets hurt on a tackle and needs to come off. Mancini comes in for him.

25' - We have a throw in down the left side and Bamba sends a pass into Gesios. He's got his back to the goal, turns to his left and feeds Aitor Zubizarreta. The young Spaniard dribbles into the area and unleashes a savage right footed shot that hits the bottom of the cross bar and drops into the net! ZUBIZARRETA!!! His first ever senior team goal for Dover!!! DOVER GOAL 2-0

35' - We get another corner and again, Gesios gets his head to it but the Derby goalkeeper, former Dover player Fraser Forster, makes the save. Gesios has been sensational so far.

45' - We earn another corner. Bamba's cross is to the near post and Rayane Hamon rises above the defender and heads it forcefully at the goal. It's knocked away by the fullback protecting the post but it goes right to GESIOS, and he calmly deposits the ball into the net. Gesios has two goals and an assist in the first half and we're blowing them away! DOVER GOAL 3-0

HALFTIME - Pure domination. We hold 62% of possession and outshoot them 10-3 (4-0 on target). A vintage Gesios performance today! Youssouf Sylla wasn't tested at all, just what we were hoping for! I'm pleased.

48' - Sylla is finally tested from distance on a hard shot but easily grabs and holds on.

49' - Zubizarreta dribbles down the right flank from midfield and is able to get a cross into the area. Gesios is there but Derby defender Sandy Pettigrew puts the ball into his own goal. Everything is going right today! DOVER GOAL 4-0

62' - Sylla makes a great save on a hard blast from the right edge of the area.

64' - With a huge lead, I take out Neil Cairney and Arsene Bamba so they can be fresh for our game in three days. Samir Nasri and Cameron Murray come in.

83' - We're holding them off nicely, although they've had some opportunities in this half. Gesios gets a chance in tight with his left foot but shoots into the side netting. He's looking for a hat trick.

We hold them off the rest of the way. Good game!

Dover 4 - 0 Derby
Goals - Giorgos Gesios 2 (9.0), Aitor Zubizarreta (8.1), Sandy Pettigrew OG
Assists - Arsene Bamba 2 (8.9), Giorgos Gesios
Man of the Match - Giorgos Gesios
Other Dover Notables - Youssouf Sylla (7.4), Salim Loucif (7.5), Rayane Hamon (7.7), Renato Gaucho (7.6), Neil Cairney (7.5)
Attendance - 12,764

We expand to 23,000 seats and barely fill half of it today! Haha. Derby isn't exactly a great draw but that's a paltry turnout for a pretty good game! Our defence was superb and nice to see Sylla get a good rating in his first senior game for Dover. Great games by Gesios, Bamba and Zubizarreta! We hold 59% of overall possession and outshoot them 14-9 (4-2 on target).

-- We get awful news on Shaun Spall, as he broke his leg in this game and will miss the rest of the season. I may need to look at bringing another midfielder in when the transfer window opens but I do have Zubizarreta and Kalfas who can play midfield if necessary. I also have young Emmerson Harvey with our U18s and of course, Mancini will be the first option off the bench.

-- Speaking of Kostas Kalfas, he resumes full training today.

-- Man United was upset at Old Trafford by Liverpool and that allows us to creep within two points of United. We're provisional third right now.



Dover U18 Team Update

-- We beat up on Crawley 5-1 in U18 play, getting two goals from Eddie Robinson and singles from Gregoire Lambert, Emmerson Harvey and Johnny Mardenborough.



-- We have three players named to the Barclays Premier League team of the week: GK Youssouf Sylla, MR Aitor Zubizarreta and ST Giorgos Gesios.



Next Up

-- We expect a much larger crowd as we welcome Arsenal to Crabble Athletic Ground as both teams battle for Champions League positioning on the Premier League table.