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Sat. September 25, 2021
Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa (1-3-1, 6 points, 13th) vs. Dover (3-2-0, 11 points, 1st)
Villa Park, Birmingham, UK
Betting Odds: Aston Villa: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Dover: 13-8
Past Meetings: 3W 1D 4L
Villa has struggled out of the gates with three draws and a loss in five games but two of their draws came against tough competition in United and Everton. They've only got five goals in five games - midfielders Ryad Boudebouz and Marouane Fellaini both have a pair. They didn't make any major splashes in the offseason transfer market and in fact, they were mostly sellers, moving Nathan Redmond to Southampton and Robin Olsson to Arsenal in large deals.
We have to be mindful of a midweek Champions League game against Schalke but I'll start a full-strength side today. We'll go with a flat 4-4-2 counter attack on the road.
Dover: 4-4-2 Counter
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, P. Tjiuoro, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, A. Rocca, N. Cairney, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea, W. Rooney
Bench - J. Kuciak, C. Contreras, S. Spall, Mancini, C. Murray, K. Kalfas, G. Gesios
Villa come out in a flat 4-4-2 just like us. Mohamed Messaoudi and Will Keane are up front. I tell the team they can win this…now go out and do it!
45' - There have been a few highlights but absolutely no chances for either team. Their star right midfielder Ryad Boudebouz has had a couple shots from distance but nothing on net. I don't know if i've ever seen a half with no chances like this.
HALFTIME - Wow. Drab match and we need to open things up a bit. They hold a slight edge in possession 51% to 49% and outshoot us 8-3. No team has a shot on goal. I reinforce that the team can win and switch to a flat 4-4-2 control mentality. I also take out Wayne Rooney (5.9 at half) and bring in Giorgos Gesios.
57' - Villa keeps getting most of the highlights and continually wastes opportunities with poor shots, mostly over the goal.
58' - Cairney gets our best chance, rifling a rocket that just skims the top of the bar. Still no shots on goal for either side.
62' - A shot! We work the ball up to Shanon Andrea and he makes a great move to cut toward goal. He shoots right at their keeper Antonio Kraljevic and it's an easy save.
65' - We are starting to pour on pressure. Cairney gets the ball to the top of the area to Andrea and he fires one off the crossbar!
69' - Villa have possession and Fellaini works it to the middle to fellow midfielder Arinze Issah. He sends a pass up to striker Will Keane and he turns to the right, makes some space then fires a rocket from 25 yards right into the far corner of the net. Ugh…their first shot is in. ASTON VILLA GOAL 0-1
We'll have to attack.
84' - Now we move to overload.
87' - We work furiously upfield and Andrea takes a hard, low curling shot from distance and Kraljevic makes a great diving stop to turn it aside.
That's it. We're struggling all of a sudden.
Aston Villa 1 - 0 Dover
Goals -
Assists -
Man of the Match - Antonio Kraljevic (Aston Villa GK - 7.4)
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.0), Neil Cairney (7.1), Wayne Rooney (5.8)
Attendance - 40,363
We edged them in possession 51-49% and outshot them 16-15 (3-2 on target). Another disappointing performance and I tell the players as much. Man, I'm in a bad enough mood about alienating Paul Moses and now the rest of our team is slumping, with no goals in 3 of 4 games. Gesios has been terrible since his return but in his defence, I've been playing him before he was fully fit, as I have no bloody reserves games to get him back to fitness. With Rooney struggling and Moses sulking, I have no one other than Andrea doing anything up front all of a sudden.
-- We tentatively drop to 3rd after the loss. Man United CRUSH Everton 7-0 behind four goals from Yaya Sanogo. Tottenham also win to move ahead of us.
Dover U18 Update
-- Sulking Paul Moses scores two goals for the kids in a 4-0 win over West Ham. Matt Hewitt also scored and we benefited from an own goal as well.
International Update
-- On loan defender Thomas Andersen set up a goal in a 3-2 Denmark U20's win over Czech Republic in U20 World Cup action.
Injury Update
-- Nothing new here: Zoltan Bardi is still our only injury and he'll be out at least another month or so.
Next Up
-- Game two of Champions League group play, as we host German side Schalke at Crabble Athletic Ground.
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