[NoSkillz]

Sat. March 19, 2023

Barclays Premier League
Arsenal (19-5-5, 62 points, 5th) vs. Dover (19-6-5, 63 points, 4th)
Emirates Stadium, London, England

Betting Odds: Arsenal: 1-2 (Favourites) Draw: 13-5 Dover: 9-2
Past Meetings: 4W 2D 8L

We are significant underdogs against Arsenal, who just got knocked out of the Europa League by HSV in the 2nd Knockout stage. We've already played the Gunners a couple of times, most recently defeating them in the League Cup finals at Wembley Stadium. They did beat us at home in league play earlier in the year, however. Jack Wilshere still leads the club in goals with 14 and DC/ST Nchimunya Munyao is second with 10.

Shanon Andrea is back in the lineup today, otherwise we'll go with the same starting eleven as the Benfica Champions League game. I may be tempting fate here but I think this team is beatable so I'm going to start with a positive game plan and utilize a control mentality to start.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, A. Rocca, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea, Chiquinho
Bench - D. Traore, K. Zagos, S. Spall, G. Fanfoni, G. Allan, H. Cruz, P. Moses

Arsenal are in their 4-5-1 formation with Boakye up front. Wilshere is playing AMR, Munyao is playing defence and Sergio Asenjo is in goal. Lets play attractive football for our travelling supporters and lets get some shots on goal today!

5' - Chiquinho with an early yellow card.

20' - A long period without highlights but we get the first great chance as Cairney feeds a little touch pass through the defence. Shanon Andrea runs into it and shoots it past Asenjo and IN but the assistant has his flag up. Offsides is the call! The replay confirms it. NO GOAL.

29' - Shanon Andrea is tackled hard and he's down for the count. I need to bring him off so Paul Moses comes in. DOVER INJURY - Shanon Andrea OFF

30' - Chiquinho turns around and shoots with his left foot but the shot is weak and easily saved by Asenjo.

32' - Paul Moses with a PILEDRIVER from way out and it's off the crossbar!

HALFTIME - A quiet half but I'm happy with our display so far. I think we've had more chances but they are winning on the stat sheet, as they hold 51% of possession and a 9-7 (3-1 on target) shot edge. I tell the team I'm pleased thus far.

50' - Wow! Cairney with a touch pass into the area to Bamba and Arsenal defender Lorenzo Tomaselli, a Canadian international, brings him down! PENALTY! Up steps Neil Cairney to take it and the kick is IN THE NET! Wooo! DOVER GOAL 1-0

Arsenal immediately move to a flat 4-4-2 and bring in dangerous striker Lee Ross.

55' - We steal possession at midfield and Paul Moses sends a delicious ball up field and Chiquinho is on a breakaway. He's in on goal and his shot is stopped by Asenjo! Great chance!

57' - Yellow card for Neil Cairney.

60' - We have another rush down field and Bamba's cross is in the area to Andrea Rocca but his shot from point blank range is stopped by Asenjo!

65' - Arsenal work possession deep in our end and the ball comes to Boakye and he turns and fires from the edge of the area and it's off a diving Wilke and IN. Damn. ARSENAL GOAL 1-1

69' - Moses again with a ROCKET from distance and it's off the crossbar. That's twice for Moses today!

70' - Wow. Boakye up to Lee Ross and on a harmless looking play, he runs past Contreras, rounds Wilke and shoots and it's IN. Two quick goals and Arsenal now LEAD. ARSENAL GOAL 1-2

We bring in Kostas Zagos for a tired Rayane Hamon. Arsenal move back to a 4-5-1 formation.

72' - Moses with a lovely little touch pass into Bamba but his low shot is right at the Arsenal keeper.

75' - Ross with a nice turn and shoot move and Wilke is forced to make a nice save.

84' - I bring in Graham Allan for Gianluca Bolis and move to an Overload mentality.

Real tough loss.

Arsenal 2 - 1 Dover
Goals - Neil Cairney PEN (7.4)
Assists - Arsene Bamba (7.1)
Man of the Match - Boakye (Arsenal ST - 8.0)
Other Dover Notables -
Attendance - 60,361

Arsenal dominated possession to the tune of 55% and outshot us 17-17 (6-5 on target). I thought we played well enough to win today…a few posts and some bad luck. Oh well, we'll move on. The schedule definitely eases up for us in the league so we can still finish in the top four if we play to our capabilities.

-- Shanon Andrea suffered a twisted ankle and will miss the next four weeks. Great. Well, Paul Moses gets his chance to shine now.

-- United win the Manchester derby, taking a 3-1 decision at Old Trafford. Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday also win, as we drop back into fifth. Sheffield have quietly crept to within 2 points of us!


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 31 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Chelsea - 72 points
2. Manchester United - 69 points
3. Arsenal - 65 points (30 games played)
4. Manchester City - 64 points
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5. Dover - 63 points
6. Sheffield Wednesday - 61 points
7. Sunderland - 50 points
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Premier League Mid-Week Update

-- Arsenal win again, this time over Derby and they move to 68 points, five ahead of us. We need a big winning streak to start pronto!



FA Cup Update

-- After two consecutive FA Cup wins, there won't be a third for Reading, as they lose 2-1 in extra time to Newcastle in a quarterfinal replay.



International Update

-- Getting capped for their countries are Steve Reed (England U21), Louis Reed and Paul Moses (England U20), Kostas Zagos (England), Daniel Traore (Ivory Coast), Salim Loucif (Algeria), Graham Allan & Neil Cairney (Scotland), Zoltan Bardi (Hungary) and Chiquinho. So only ten caps this time.



Dover Reserves Team Update

-- We battle to a 1-1 draw versus Arsenal's reserves, with the returning Mancini scoring our only goal.

-- In that game, reserve fullback Steve Reed dislocated his shoulder and likely will miss the rest of the season.



April Update

-- This will be a hellacious month of action, with five Premier League games: Middlesbrough (AWAY), Newcastle (HOME), Derby (HOME), Stoke (AWAY) and Wolves (AWAY). We also have both of our Quarterfinal Champions League games against Real Madrid AND the FA Cup semi-final against Huddersfield at Wembley. If we were to somehow get past Real Madrid in the Champions League, we'd have one semi-final game this month too. So that's NINE (!!) potential games but i'd think *something* would be rescheduled if that was the case. This is a key stretch in the season for us as ALL FIVE of our league games are against teams in the bottom half of the table. If we could win four of the five or, knock on wood, win all five, we'll do wonders for our positioning.

-- We get positive training reports for Gian Marco Fanfoni, Marcel Quade, Hans Briers and Mwemere Mutesa. Negative reports come in for the retiring Wayne Rooney and just back from injury Mancini.



Premier League Monthly Awards

-- Man City midfielder Giorgos Spanoudakis wins the Player of the Month award for March.

-- Derby wins an award!!! Their young DC Rini Verhagen wins the Young Player of the Month award. Paul Moses finishes in second after his fine month!

-- Jurgen Klinsmann from Man United wins the Manager of the Month award.



Next Up

-- We need to start a good run of form to close the season and can get off to a good start against struggling Middlesbrough in a game played away from home.