[NoSkillz]

Wed. December 20, 2023

Barclays Premier League
Sunderland (5-4-6, 19 points, 11th) vs. Dover (10-4-1, 34 points, 3rd)
The Stadium of Light, Sunderland, UK

Betting Odds: Sunderland: 3-1 Draw: 2-1 Dover: 4-5 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 4W 1D 4L

Sunderland have always played us tough and are one of the few teams left that we don’t have more wins than losses against. We hope to rectify that tonight! Craig Flett is once again their top scorer, with 11 goals from 14 games and fine midfielder Matt Barber is second with 5 goals. Barber will miss tonight’s game due to suspension, a nice bonus! Sunderland spent £26 million in the July transfer window, with £12.25 million on Napoli’s 28 year old DC/MC Geslin Diallo, a DR Congo international. He’s been a constant in the lineup thus far and has a goal and two assists but he is ALSO suspended for tonight’s match. George MacKenzie, another midfielder and a former Dover loanee, is also dangerous.

We’ll make some changes from our disappointing draw against Middlesbrough. Chiquinho is back in the starting lineup today alongside Paul Moses. I’m benching captain Salim Loucif and star midfielder Neil Cairney, who both have struggled in recent weeks. In their place will be Rafinha and Andrea Rocca. Saber Nasri is also back in for young Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz, who played poorly against Middlesbrough. This is a makeup game for us and the only Premier League match on the night - a win will see us move into first place in the league. Control mentality on the road as pretty big favourites.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, S. Nasri, Rafinha
M - A. Bamba, Jose, A. Rocca, G. Allan
S - P. Moses, Chiquinho
Bench - S. Loucif, M. Yilmaz, G. Fanfoni, N. Cairney, L. Kunchev, H. Cruz, S. Andrea

Sunderland are also in a flat 4-4-2 with Flett and Lucas Alba up front. MacKenzie is starting at MC and Sam Cowler is in goal.

2’ - We send a long ball upfield and Moses heads it up to a charging Jose. He’s in on goal but he’s denied his first Dover goal by Cowler, who makes a great save.

5’ - Arsene Bamba with a pass to Moses and our young stud striker takes the ball, crosses over with Chiquinho and gets into the area. His blast goes off Sunderland defender Jamie Holt and deflects past Cowler and into the net. Great start! DOVER GOAL 1-0

22’ - A goal kick is sent up field and Moses wins the ball. He sees Chiquinho breaking through the middle and feeds him a delightful ball. Chiquinho is being chased as he enters the area but the Belgian striker switches to his weaker left foot to set up a good angle and delivers a precise shot into the corner of the goal. Beauty goal by now healthy striker!! DOVER GOAL 2-0

24’ - Sunderland are playing very sloppy and we steal the ball and work up field. We get it to Bamba and he cuts through two defenders on his way to goal but Cowler makes the big save.

29’ - Sunderland continue their appalling play at home as Contreras heads a ball over their defence and Chiquinho wins the race to the ball. Cowler is out to challenge and Chiquinho smartly lays a pass off to an unmarked Moses and he has all day to put the ball into the empty net! Moses has two and we’re throttling these guys. DOVER GOAL 3-0

37’ - Another wonderful passing display sees Moses moving the ball to Chiquinho then another pass to Jose and his rocket blast from just outside the area is right at Cowler and he holds on.

41’ - Sunderland with their first good chance, as Alba gets loose in space and shoots low to the far post but Wilke makes the diving stop.

44’ - Now it’s the dangerous Flett weaving through the middle of our defence and getting off a shot but it’s at Wilke and he makes the reflex save.

HALFTIME - We’re cruising here. We have 55% of the possession and a 16-7 (6-2 on target) shot advantage. I’m pleased. No changes to start the second half.

47’ - Moses with a beautiful through ball to Chiquinho and he’s in all alone but is robbed by Cowler!

52’ - Two substitutes strike for Sunderland, as midfielder Zezinho storms up the pitch and passes to Connor Wickham. He shoots from outside the area and Wilke, too far from the byline, gets a piece of it but not enough and it’s in the top corner of the net. Sunderland is still in this. SUNDERLAND GOAL 3-1

59’ - Sunderland are starting to exert some pressure here and Arsene Bamba is given a yellow on a foul.

61’ - Now it’s Graham Allan with the yellow, as Sunderland continue to show more burst this half.

64’ - I take out Andrea Rocca and bring in Gian Marco Fanfoni to bring some energy to the lineup.

77’ - We have possession deep in their end off a throw in and Graham Allan shoots on goal. It’s deflected to Chiquinho and he immediately shoots and SCORES. But wait…OFFSIDES is the call. NO GOAL.

We bring in Helder Cruz for a tiring Arsene Bamba.

82’ - Fanfoni with a shot from distance but Cowler is in good position.

83’ - Sunderland counter off a failed free kick but Flett can only get a weak shot off and it’s right at Wilke.

84’ - More possession for us deep in their end as Chiquinho feeds a little ball to Moses at the edge of the area. He immediately shoots his trademark low blast on goal and Cowler makes a great diving stop. There is a big rebound and Chiquinho beats a Sunderland defender to it. Just as Cowler recovers, Chiquinho rips a rocket into the top corner of the net and he’s got his second! DOVER GOAL 4-1

87’ - Allan is exhausted so I take him out and bring in Lyubomir Kunchev.

90’ - I guess Rafinha makes an error somewhere, as Connor Wickham spots Nuno Santos streaking past Renato Gaucho and Santos makes no mistake in putting the ball past Wilke. Ugh. Don’t like giving up those late ones, even when we are comfortably ahead. SUNDERLAND GOAL 4-2

Solid win.

Sunderland 2 - 4 Dover
Goals - Paul Moses 2 (9.4), Chiquinho 2 (9.3)
Assists - Paul Moses 2, Chiquinho, Arsene Bamba (7.1)
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.0), Saber Nasri (7.0), Renato Gaucho (7.0), Andrea Rocca (7.1), Jose (7.2), Rafinha (5.3)
Attendance - 32,866

Sunderland outplayed us quite a bit in the second half but we edge them in possession with 51% of the ball and a 26-14 (12-6 on target) shot advantage. Solid road game there. Rafinha with a horrific rating in a win - the wonderkid needs a bit more time I guess!

-- As indicated, we are in the only match of the night and that win propels us into first place on the table.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 16 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Dover - 37 points
2. Manchester United - 37 points
3. Liverpool - 36 points
4. Manchester City - 34 points
----------------------------------------------------
5. Manchester City - 32 points
6. Middlesbrough - 32 points
7. Aston Villa - 26 points
----------------------------------------------------



Champions League - First Knockout Round Draw

-- With sixteen teams left, we get a pretty good draw and will play Dutch side AZ Alkmaar (AZ). They are currently in second place in the Eredivisie behind Ajax, who are also still playing in this competition. AZ have an estimated value of only £71 million so they are one of the few clubs remaining with a smaller value than us. Good matchup! The first leg will be played at DSB Stadium in Holland on February 27th. The rest of the match ups are as follows:

Arsenal vs. Barcelona
Bursaspor vs. Real Madrid
Olympique Lyonnais vs. Manchester United
Palermo vs. OM
Ajax vs. Chelsea
Juventus vs. Galatasaray
Celtic vs. Atletico Madrid



Dover U18 Update

-- We battle to a 2-2 draw versus Southampton. Ben Patterson scored both goals, including an extra time penalty shot that dramatically levelled the match.



Premier League Update

-- We don’t play on a weekend with seven Premier League matches. Key winners include Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Tottenham while Aston Villa get smoked 4-0 by Reading. Liverpool move back into first place on the table but we have a game in hand now.



Dover Injury Update

-- Gianluca Bolis returns to full training after missing eight weeks with a dislocated shoulder. He’ll likely need some time before getting back into match shape but we don’t have any reserve league games for awhile so I’ll have to find him some playing time somehow. Striker Zoltan Bardi (torn ankle ligaments) is still a couple weeks away from returning to full training.



Premier League Update

-- We play on Wednesday the 27th but there are four traditional Boxing Day matches, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday winning while the Manchester derby sees a 1-1 draw.



Next Up

-- We are huge favourites on the road as we face relegation candidates Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.