[NoSkillz]

Sun. February 11, 2024

Barclays Premier League
Dover (19-5-1, 62 points, 1st) vs. Wolves (4-10-12, 22 points, 16th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 1-4 (Favourites) Draw: 4-1 Wolves: 9-1
Past Meetings: 10W 3D 1L

We just beat these guys 7-1 last week with our “B” lineup in an FA Cup match. We’ve had nothing but success against these guys from day one and our 10 wins against them is the most we have against any club in the game. The one positive is that they are coming off their most inspired performance of the year in a 5-4 thriller of a win against Middlesbrough, a very good club.

We’ll make some changes today. Zoltan Bardi is in at striker and Chiquinho won’t dress. Gian Marco Fanfoni and Andrea Rocca will take over in the middle of the park, relegating Neil Cairney to the bench and Jose won’t dress. I’m also scratching Claudio Contreras and captain Salim Loucif. Saber Nasri and Rafinha will play today.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - Renato Gaucho, S. Nasri, R. Hamon, Rafinha
M - A. Bamba, G. Fanfoni, A. Rocca, G. Bolis
S - P. Moses, Z. Bardi
Bench - C. Guzman, M. Yilmaz, N. Cairney, E. Harvey, G. Allan, L. Kunchev, S. Andrea

Wolves start Guy Luckett and Stefano Zeno up front in their flat 4-4-2. Wayne Hennessey is in goal and Evgeny Maltsev is in the midfield. We’re suffering from overconfidence and I tell the team I expect a win today.

4’ - Rafinha with a yellow card.

12’ - Andrea Rocca with a piledriver from the edge of the area and Hennessey pushes it to safety.

16’ - Paul Moses wins a ball down the right and dribbles into the area before laying a pass off to Rocca and his shot again is saved by the Wolves keeper. We earn a corner out of it and Rocca’s cross is headed by Rayane Hamon and it’s IN! Ok, better start guys! DOVER GOAL 1-0

26’ - We start a counter attack off a failed Wolves corner and it’s Bamba sending a long ball up the left to Moses. It’s a two on one and he feeds Zoltan Bardi and just when it looks like he’ll shoot, Bardi passes back to Moses and he has a yawning net and makes no mistake! GORGEOUS vision and passing there by both and a great Moses goal! DOVER GOAL 2-0

28’ - Bardi with a very ill-advised back pass to Nasri but Stefano Zeno intercepts and runs in on goal. Wilke runs out to challenge and JUST gets enough of the ball to send it wide!

35’ - We win another corner and Rocca’s cross is to the far post and Saber Nasri. He sends a forceful header toward goal and Paul Moses redirects it past Hennessey and IN! That’s two for Moses and we’re starting to roll again! DOVER GOAL 3-0

41’ - Wolves with some nice passing and it results in Luckett getting a good shot on goal and Wilke dives to make the stop!

45’ - Fanfoni with a great through ball to Arsene Bamba and he’s in his wheelhouse cutting in from the left but his hard shot is swallowed up by Hennessey. Nice save there.

HALFTIME - That’s better. Still, we only are splitting possession and our shot advantage is slight at 10-7 (8-2 on target). Still, I’m pleased.

46’ - Right off the opening kick off, Moses is sent down field by Bamba but his left footed shot is saved by a well-positioned Hennessey.

49’ - Now it’s Bardi with a delightful ball to Moses and he’s sure to score…but Hennessey makes a stellar stop! WOW.

59’ - A new highlight starts with Moses having the ball at midfield and weaving through the defence. A Wolves tackler whiffs and Moses runs in on goal. Just as he’s about to shoot, it looks like he’s fouled but there is no call. The ball is loose for a split second and Moses recovers and immediately shoots past a prone Hennessey and it’s IN! Yet ANOTHER HAT TRICK for Paul Moses! DOVER GOAL 4-0

With the game well in hand, we take out Moses and the excellent Andrea Rocca and bring in Shanon Andrea and Emmerson Harvey.

63’ - Fanfoni to Bamba and his shot from the outer edge of the area is off the crossbar!

68’ - We are putting pressure on the Wolves defence and they send a back pass to Hennessey, who completely panics and slides after the ball to send it away. The only problem is that he puts it right on the foot of Shanon Andrea and he has an open net to shoot at and in it goes! My god, what a horrible play by Hennessey. DOVER GOAL 5-0

We make our last substitution, bringing in Graham Allan to play for Arsene Bamba.

79’ - We have a bit of a breakdown and Wolves substitute striker Scott Henderson is all alone in front of Wilke but his rocket blast is right at our keeper and saved. That’s Henderson’s second great chance, with his first one sent wide about ten minutes ago.

90’+1 - Bolis is sent through but his low shot is saved well by Hennessey.

That’s much better.

Dover 5 - 0 Wolves
Goals - Paul Moses 3 (9.6), Rayane Hamon (8.8), Shanon Andrea (7.3)
Assists - Andrea Rocca 2 (9.0), Arsene Bamba (8.3), Zoltan Bardi (7.9)
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.7), Rafinha (7.8), Saber Nasri (8.3), Renato Gaucho (8.0), Gianluca Bolis (7.6), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.9)
Attendance - 20,233

We hold 53% of possession and a solid 23-11 (13-3 on target) shot advantage. All eleven of our starters get ratings over 7.6! A very solid performance.

-- There is one other game and in a bit of a shocker, it’s Tottenham beating Manchester United 4-2 to move ahead of them into second place! Man City, on the other hand, win 3-0 over Blackpool and move into 4th.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 27 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Dover - 65 points (after 26 games)
2. Tottenham - 55 points
3. Manchester United - 54 points (after 26 games)
4. Manchester City - 54 points
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5. Chelsea - 53 points (after 26 games)
6. Liverpool - 52 points
7. Middlesbrough - 48 points
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Dover U18 Update

-- Our U18s win 4-0 over Barnet, with Norberto Vazquez bagging a brace and we get singles from Ben Patterson and Pete Smith.



Premier League Team of the Week

-- Five of our players get named to the team of the week, with Rafinha, Saber Nasri, Rayane Hamon, Andrea Rocca and Paul Moses getting honoured.



Next Up

-- We’re back on the road, facing underachieving Sheffield Wednesday in Premier League action.