[NoSkillz]

Wed. April 19, 2023

Barclays Premier League
Dover (21-6-6, 69 points, 4th) vs. Derby (4-13-16, 25 points, 17th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 4-7 (Favourites) Draw: 5-2 Derby: 4-1
Past Meetings: 8W 0D 2L

Derby might be the most boring team in the Premier League this year, playing a "park the bus" style both home and away. We eked out a 1-0 win against them early in the year in a complete snoozer of a match and hopefully we can score early to force them to open up today. We are significant favourites against the relegation candidates, with Derby only a single point above the drop zone right now. Niels Hendriks is their top scorer with 15 goals in 33 games and Hallam Hope, another striker, has 9. Their third leading scorer has THREE. This team doesn't score much.

We will utilize a one striker formation and the cold-as-ice Chiquinho will be on the bench today. Paul Moses will start up front and Zoltan Bardi will sit behind him. Morale is a huge issue for us right now and I'm starting the "happiest" lineup possible today. That means regular starters like Renato Gaucho and Andrea Rocca are on the bench.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - K. Zagos, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni
AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis
S - P. Moses
Bench - D. Traore, R. Gaucho, Mancini, A. Rocca, H. Cruz, G. Allan, Chiquinho

Derby are in a 4-4-2, a different look for them. Hendriks and Hope are up front and former Dover keeper Fraser Forster will be the last line of defence. With our club languishing, I have to be very careful with this team talk so I simply ask them to do it for the fans today.

Sparse crowd today. Maybe around 12-13,000 or so.

2' - We win an early corner and Arsene Bamba's cross is headed toward goal by Zoltan Bardi but Forster is there in good position for the save.

16' - We win another corner and this time it's Neil Cairney taking it. The ball is delivered toward the middle and Claudio Contreras beats Forster to the ball and heads it into the open net! DOVER GOAL 1-0

28' - We have a free kick in our end of the pitch and it's Salim Loucif sending a long ball up the middle. Derby decide not to mark Paul Moses and the pass is right at his feet. He takes a few steps into the area and sends a quick shot past Forster and in. TERRIBLE defence by Derby and we're up two! DOVER GOAL 2-0

34' - Rayane Hamon with a header off a Bamba corner and Forster makes the stop.

35' - Hallam Hope with a turnaround shot from just outside the area and Wilke has to dive low to make the nice save.

HALFTIME - Somehow, Derby have 52% of possession but we outshoot them by a wide 17-3 (4-1 on target) margin. I encourage the players to keep it up.

51' - Claudio Contreras with a brutal takedown of Hope just as he's about to enter our penalty area. Yellow card for Contreras but thankfully not a penalty kick. They do get a free kick and Paul Mulrooney's shot is deflected off our wall and right to captain Miles Addison but his header is stopped brilliantly by Ingo Wilke.

67' - Not much happening for either side in this half. I take out Zoltan Bardi and bring in Chiquinho, with hopes that participating in a win will boost his morale a bit.

69' - Bamba with a great cross into the area and Bolis, with an empty net to shoot at, gets ROBBED by a brilliant diving save from Forster. WOW. Great stop!

70' - Another morale motivated move, as I take out Neil Cairney and bring in Andrea Rocca.

71' - Boy, this is a brutal half. Contreras gets stripped of the ball inside our area by Hendriks and his quick shot is saved by an alert Wilke. Terrible defence by Contreras.

76' - On an innocent looking rush, Moses sends a little pass up to Chiquinho. From 30 yards out, he sends in a BULLET of a shot and it's in the far corner past a diving Forster and we strike for our third and Chiquinho has a slump buster!!! DOVER GOAL 3-0

79' - One last morale boosting change, as we take out Salim Loucif and bring in Renato Gaucho.

86' - A nice passing play results in a Andrea Rocca shot from just outside the area and Forster makes the nice save.

90' - On another innocent enough looking play, it's Moses moving it to Chiquinho and the Belgian striker moves into the penalty area. He's on his weaker left foot but moves the ball back to his right and his quick, low shot is in the near side past Forster and Chiquinho has TWO as a substitute! DOVER GOAL 4-0

Excellent. We win AND Chiquinho gets a couple of goals to break his scoreless slump!

Dover 4 - 0 Derby
Goals - Chiquinho 2 (8.5), Claudio Contreras (8.7), Paul Moses (8.8)
Assists - Paul Moses 2, Salim Loucif (8.2), Neil Cairney (7.0)
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.3), Rayane Hamon (7.7), Kostas Zagos (7.4), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.3), Arsene Bamba (7.3)
Attendance - 15,737

We end up with 52% of possession and a huge 32-12 (10-5 on target) shot advantage. Great stuff from Moses and Chiquinho especially!

-- There's only one other game in the Premier League today, as Man City win 2-1 over Newcastle to hold onto 5th spot. We move up into third place.

-- Neil Cairney played his 100th Premier League game for Dover today. He's having one hell of a season and is being given consideration for English Footballer of the Year according to the pundits!!!

-- That was a big morale booster. Everyone is back to being happy, for the most part, with ratings between "Okay" and "Superb".


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 34 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Chelsea - 76 points
2. Arsenal - 73 points
3. Dover - 72 points
4. Manchester United - 71 points
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5. Manchester City - 69 points
6. Sheffield Wednesday - 66 points
7. Sunderland - 51 points
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Next Up

-- We are on the road and will face the worst team in the league in Stoke City.