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Wed. February 7, 2024
Barclays Premier League
Huddersfield (6-5-14, 23 points, 15th) vs. Dover (19-4-1, 61 points, 1st)
The Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield, UK
Betting Odds: Huddersfield: 7-1 Draw: 3-1 Dover: 1-3 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 9W 1D 3L
Huddersfield are on a very poor run of form in league play, having lost seven straight. They are coming off a 2-0 win over Southampton to advance to the 5th round of the FA Cup but their last league win was on December 23rd. Midfielder Dennis Lotters leads the club with only 6 goals and striker David Caldwell has 4. They’ve been in the Premier League for eight straight years and while they should be safe from the drop, they’ll need to pull up their socks a bit for the home stretch.
We’ll stick with the same lineup from our 7-1 FA Cup win. We are huge favourites on the road and I expect a good performance.
Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - Renato Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, Jose, G. Bolis
S - P. Moses, Chiquinho
Bench - Rafinha, S. Nasri, A. Rocca, G. Fanfoni, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, S. Andrea
Huddersfield are in a flat 4-4-2 with Paul Lumsden and Matteo Giacomini up front. Lumsden is a threat and has played well against us in the past but only has 2 goals this year. I’m not really aware of Giacomini but he has three goals in 17 appearances so far. Alex Smithies is in goal. I reaffirm that this is a winnable game (no kidding) in the pre-game team talk.
24’ - Not a great start, as we only have one offensive highlight to this point and it’s a Chiquinho miss. Gianluca Bolis has the ball and streaks up the right. He feeds a cross into the area and there is Paul Moses, unmarked, booting it past Smithies and in. DOVER GOAL 1-0
HALFTIME - Uh, yeah, that’s it. Possession is dead even and we have a 7-2 (1-1 on target) shot advantage. DULL! I encourage the team to perform better after half.
47’ - Huddersfield have a free kick from outside the area and the ball is sent in on Wilke. It’s an easy ball but Wilke botches it and it is loose. It’s headed over Wilke and Chiquinho tries to win a battle against David Caldwell, their substitute striker but LOSES, as Caldwell is able to head it into the empty net. HORRIFIC error by Wilke and Huddersfield pull level. HUDDERSFIELD GOAL 1-1
59’ - This is just a shocking performance today, as Neil Cairney gets a yellow card.
61’ - Cairney feeds a through ball to Moses and his quick shot is saved by Smithies.
68’ - Chiquinho is having a HORRIBLE game and I pull him out and bring in Zoltan Bardi.
70’ - Wilke has to make a spectacular stop on a header off a corner kick.
74’ - We allow Caldwell to deke through three guys and he gets off a rocket that Wilke deflects off the crossbar. My goodness - our team simply hasn’t shown up today.
77’ - Andrea Rocca is in for Jose, who is playing “nervously”.
82’ - Cairney with a weak shot from distance that floats over Smithies and hits the crossbar.
83’ - We change to an overload mentality. We need a goal here.
86’ - Rocca with a curling shot from distance and Smithies makes the diving save, as we start to pour on some pressure.
That’s it. Very disappointing.
Huddersfield 1 - 1 Dover
Goals - Paul Moses (7.2)
Assists - Gianluca Bolis (7.0)
Man of the Match - Rayane Hamon (7.4)
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (5.8)
Attendance - 12,272
We end up with 51% of possession and a 12-7 (3-4 on target) shot advantage. Only three shots on goal - just pathetic. Chiquinho got a 6.0 rating. I tell the team the performance wasn’t good enough and storm out of the dressing room.
-- In other action, the biggest shock was relegation candidates Blackpool winning 3-0 over 2nd placed Tottenham. Wolves win a barnburner against Middlesbrough in a 5-4 thriller and Man United SMOKE Fulham 6-0.
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 26 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)
1. Dover - 62 points (after 25 games)
2. Manchester United - 54 points (after 25 games)
3. Tottenham - 52 points
4. Chelsea - 52 points (after 25 games)
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5. Manchester City - 51 points
6. Liverpool - 49 points
7. Middlesbrough - 45 points
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Dover Injury Update
-- Just when I plan on getting Manuel Perez a game, especially after a brutal Ingo Wilke performance, he gets hurt AGAIN in training. He’ll only miss a week but that’s two games now that I was planning on playing him that get thwarted by a freak injury. It’s only a bruised shin and he’ll be fine.
Premier League Update
-- We have a Sunday game this weekend and get to watch some Premier League play on Saturday. Chelsea can only manage a draw against in-form Reading and Middlesbrough and Liverpool both record wins against lesser opposition.
Next Up
-- We head home to host Wolves, our second game in a week against the same club.
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