[NoSkillz]

Wed. September 27, 2023

League Cup - Third Round
Dover vs. Liverpool
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 11-5 Draw: N/A Liverpool: Evens (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 5W 2D 8L

Liverpool finished 7th last year and with mid-table Newcastle winning the 2023 FA Cup, that left the Reds without Continental play for this season. Liverpool have done a decent job getting a bit younger, with solid players like midfielder Adam Hill and huge striker Cheikh Bocande. They spent heavily in the offseason, splashing about £72 million on eight players. Too many great players to mention but I always admired James Gregan, a midfielder, when he played for Reading and he came over to Liverpool in a £11.5 million deal.

We have a Premier League game in three days against lowly Norwich, just promoted back into the Premier League, so I’ll use a few backups today and likely on Saturday as well. Fullback Rafinha will start at right fullback, his first senior team start and Saber Nasri will play for a second consecutive game, this time spelling Claudio Contreras. Jose gets a second consecutive start, this time in place of Neil Cairney. We are going with a single striker today in Paul Moses and Zoltan Bardi will sit behind him at AMC.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, S. Nasri, R. Hamon, Rafinha
M - Jose, A. Rocca
AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis
S - P. Moses
Bench - S. Loucif, M. Yilmaz, E. Harvey, G. Fanfoni, H. Cruz, G. Bolis, A. Broomes

Liverpool come out in the same formation as us, with Bocande alone up front and Chris Dunn in goal. He’s always tough against us.

3’ - Rafinha gets the ball from Wilke on a throw and he clears it up the middle of the field and right to a Liverpool midfielder. They quickly pass up to Jonjo Shelvey and his quick pass is up to Liverpool newcomer Said Abdel Kader. He’s in on goal and SCORES. Holy crap - what a horrific gaffe by Rafinha and we’re quickly behind. LIVERPOOL GOAL 0-1

11’ - Now Liverpool work a counter and it’s another newcomer, left midfielder David Maclennan, storming down the field with Rafinha chasing. He gets a bullet off and Wilke makes the great stop.

23’ - Adding injury to insult, Rayane Hamon comes up limping and needs to come off. In comes Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz in his place. DOVER INJURY: Rayane Hamon

29’ - Our first chance comes from Moses, as he has a half step on the defence but can’t shake the guys chasing him, which forces him to shoot a bit earlier than he’d like and Dunn is there for the save.

HALFTIME - Well, this is disappointing. We hold 54% of possession and a 6-3 (3-2 on target) shot advantage but our chances have been few and far between. I expect better and I tell the players as much in the dressing room at half. I also switch to a flat 4-4-2 for the second half. We need a couple goals here.

55’ - Bolis with a wonderful pass up to Bardi and he’s in alone. He slows down for some reason, allowing his pursuers to catch him and he shoots harmlessly wide. Ugly.

61’ - Rocca gets hurt on a challenge and while he can continue, his fitness takes a major hit. On comes Gian Marco Fanfoni.

70’ - And in a scene that almost makes me spit out my soda, I watch as Paul Moses is dribbling in on goal and Liverpool defender Brian Reekers takes him down from behind. Ugly challenge, Reekers gets a yellow and my God, Moses is down with the dreaded cross above his name. Please be okay… DOVER INJURY: Paul Moses

Graham Allan comes in for Moses to play striker.

We move to an attacking mentality.

74’ - Allan with a rocket blast after taking a pass from Bamba but Dunn is in good position for the stop.

76’ - We win a corner and Bamba’s cross is headed toward goal by Yilmaz but cleared off the line in dramatic fashion by one of the Liverpool defenders.

78’ - It’s Bamba again, streaking down the left sideline and sending in a cross. It’s a beauty and there is Gianluca Bolis, heading it back to the left post and it’s IN! Late equalizer! DOVER GOAL 1-1

Back to a control mentality.

88’ - We are putting on tons of pressure and Liverpool are just holding on for dear life. Jose with a rocket launcher and Chris Dunn sprawls to make the stop.

FULLTIME - We hold 53% of possession and a crazy 18-4 (7-2 on target) shot advantage. Liverpool are sitting back and likely hoping to get to penalty kicks at this point.

101’ - We have a corner and Bamba’s cross to the middle is headed by Saber Nasri and it’s past Dunn and IN THE NET! That’s Nasri’s first goal for Dover and we are in the lead! DOVER GOAL 2-1

103’ - Liverpool hold possession from the ensuing kick and they methodically move up field before sending a pass into the middle to the veteran Shelvey and he’s alone and scores. Unreal. LIVERPOOL GOAL 2-2

111’ - Last ten minutes of extra time. I switch to an attacking mentality. Win or bust! Lets try to avoid penalties.

It doesn’t work. Off to penalties we go!

Liverpool shoots first:

Liverpool: Adam Hill shoots, Wilke guesses right and SAVES!!!
Dover: Zoltan Bardi is up and SCORES!!! DOVER GOAL 1-0
Liverpool: James Efmorfidis is up, goes left and Wilke guesses right again! SAVE!!! Holy crap!
Dover: Young Gian Marco Fanfoni is up next and he blasts it IN THE NET! Wooo! DOVER GOAL 2-0
Liverpool: Serban Purima is up and he shoots WIDE! What is going on!?!
Dover: Young Rafinha can end it here and also make up for his major gaffe early in the game. He steps up and shoots hard, Dunn gets a piece of it but it’s IN THE NET! DOVER GOAL 3-0

We win and move on in the competition!

Dover 2 - 2 Liverpool (Dover win 3-0 on penalties)
Goals - Gianluca Bolis (7.8), Saber Nasri (8.0)
Assists - Arsene Bamba 2 (8.8)
Man of the Match - Arsene Bamba
Other Dover Notables - Jose (7.0), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (7.2)
Attendance - 19,371

Possession was slightly in our favour with 51% of the ball and we end up outshooting them 24-6 (9-3 on target). Now…those injuries to Hamon and Moses…please be okay guys…

-- Paul Moses only has a dead leg and will miss three days. WHEW! The news isn’t so good for Rayane Hamon, who broke his arm in a fall and will miss around four weeks. We have capable cover in Saber Nasri, thankfully.



Dover U18 Update

-- The U18’s continue to roll, winning 3-0 over Swansea, with newcomer Norberto Vazquez netting two goals and Gary Archer scoring our third.



Facilities Upgraded

-- The planned expansion to our youth and training facilities is completed! Our youth facilities improve to “Adequate” from “Basic” and our training facilities improve from “Average” to “Good”.



League Cup - Fourth Round Draw

-- We get a decent draw and will face Championship side Derby in the fourth round at their stadium.



Next Up

-- We are back in action in Premier League play, facing newly promoted Norwich City in an away contest.