[NoSkillz]

Sat. November 4, 2023

Barclays Premier League
Liverpool (7-1-1, 22 points, 2nd) vs. Dover (7-2-0, 23 points, 1st)
Liverpool Stadium, Liverpool, UK

Betting Odds: Liverpool: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Dover: 13-8
Past Meetings: 5W 3D 8L

We are the slightest of underdogs in an early season 1 vs 2 matchup against Liverpool in their stadium. The Reds have started the season well but are coming off their second worst season in over 20 years, a seventh place finish with only 58 points. We played them at the end of September and beat them in the 3rd round of the League Cup on penalties. Young striker Cheikh Bocande is leading the club with a modest total of four goals in 8 games.

I have to be mindful of a Tuesday night Champions League game at home versus Palermo but we’ll go with a pretty full strength side today. Paul Moses will be back in and start alongside Chiquinho. Graham Allan starts for the now-injured Gianluca Bolis and will play a ton over the next couple of months. Saber Nasri stays in at centre half back, as Rayane Hamon continues to work himself back into full fitness. We’ll counter attack on the road today to start.

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

Liverpool come out in the same formation as they did during the League Cup game, a 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) with Bocande alone up front and Jonjo Shelvey, always dangerous, sitting behind him. Chris Dunn is in goal. We’ll also have to watch midfielder Adam Hill, a really solid player. In the pre-game dressing room talk, I give the team belief that they can win tonight.

4’ - Liverpool have possession half way in our territory down the right side and play some give and go's. Adam Hill hands the ball off to Shelvey and he passes into the middle to Bo Quattara. From about 8 yards outside the area, Quattara unleashes a blast that goes past a diving Manuel Perez and into the net. What a phenomenal strike from Quattara and we’re quickly behind. LIVERPOOL GOAL 0-1

9’ - Quattara has the ball at midfield and sends it up to left winger David Maclennan. He dribbles in on Salim Loucif and Loucif misses a tackle, allowing him to walk into the area and his shot is past Perez and IN! A DISASTER of as start for us and they are up two. LIVERPOOL GOAL 0-2

21’ - A couple of minutes after Andrea Rocca completely misses the net on a sitter, we are attacking again. Moses and Chiquinho play a give and go and Moses is in tight on goal. His shot is stopped by Chris Dunn but Chiquinho is there for the rebound and makes no mistake. We’re back in it! DOVER GOAL 1-2

25’ - Arsene Bamba is tackled down near midfield and is hurt. He can continue for now but has the dreaded injury cross above his name.

34’ - We have a free kick deep in their area and Rocca’s cross is headed up field to Maclennan. He dribbles down the length of the field, evades Loucif, who is having a HORRIBLE game, and crosses into the area and there is Adam Hill, charging into the box and booting it hard past Perez and Liverpool regain their two goal advantage. Horrific defending. LIVERPOOL GOAL 1-3

39’ - We have a corner and Rocca’s cross is headed out to Neil Cairney. Cairney sends the ball back to Rocca and he touches a pass to Graham Allan in the area. He pivots and crosses low into the middle and in traffic, the ball comes right to the foot of Paul Moses and he quickly kicks it into the goal. We strike back again and this game is all sorts of crazy. DOVER GOAL 2-3

45’+2 - Maclennan gets a pass at midfield and STREAKS past Salim Loucif for the upteenth time today. He runs down the sidelines and crosses into the box and there is midfielder Erik Koning, sliding at the ball and putting it past the beleaguered Manuel Perez. TERRIBLE timing to give up another goal just before half and our defending is absolutely SHOCKING today…and we’re SITTING BACK for goodness sakes!!! LIVERPOOL GOAL 2-4

HALFTIME - A shocking half of football, to say the least. Manuel Perez is having his toughest game yet, giving up four goals on as many shots on target. Liverpool are dominating, with 52% possession and a 10-7 (4-3 on target) shot advantage. I don’t go into full paint-peeling mode but tell the team I expect much more from them in the second half. Salim Loucif somehow has a 6.7 rating while both of my central defenders have a 5.7. Andrea Rocca has a 5.5 rating. I move to a control mentality to start the second half.

46’ - Liverpool get the ball to start the second half and Quattara takes a feed and walks in. Our defence is nowhere to be found and he shoots but Perez makes the stop.

61’ - Andrea Rocca was terrible and he comes out for Jose.

69’ - We play a long ball up field to Chiquinho and he finds Moses cutting through the middle. He’s in the area and shoots but Dunn makes the terrific save. There’s a rebound and Moses beats Liverpool defender Chanda Mbesuma to the ball and immediately tries the left footed shot. Dunn recovers and gets a piece of it, but not enough and it’s IN THE NET! DOVER GOAL 3-4

Down one now, we’ll attack to try to get the equalizer.

71’ - Renato Gaucho with a yellow card.

72’ - We move swiftly up field after the failed Liverpool free kick and Moses takes a pass from Bamba and cuts to the middle. He reaches the penalty area and back heels a pass to Chiquinho and his rocket launcher is off the crossbar! Ohhh…

79’ - Double substitution, as we take out Arsene Bamba and Renato Gaucho and bring in Helder Cruz and Rafinha.

82’ - We block a Liverpool free kick and a long ball is sent up to Moses. He’s on a two-on-two with Chiquinho and is allowed to dribble right into the area but his shot is saved in spectacular fashion by Dunn. We have a chance at the rebound but Allan’s shot is blocked.

83’ - We work another quick counter and passes go from Rafinha, to Cairney, to Moses, to Cruz and back to Cairney and he shoots but Dunn makes a crazy diving stop and the ball JUST trickles past the post and out of play.

84’ - We move to an overload mentality before the corner kick. The corner is cleared and Maclennan is dribbling down the left flank. He crosses into the area and the ball hits Rafinha in the back and goes past Perez and IN. Unbelievable. LIVERPOOL GOAL 3-5

What a colossal disappointment this was.

Liverpool 5 - 3 Dover
Goals - Paul Moses 2 (9.2), Chiquinho (7.2)
Assists - Paul Moses, Graham Allan (6.9)
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Saber Nasri (5.3), Claudio Contreras (5.3), Renato Gaucho (5.8), Andrea Rocca (5.5)
Attendance - 58,855

Liverpool edge us on possession with 51% of the ball but we end up outshooting them 19-13 (8-5 on target). We had only given up 5 goals through our first nine games and that’s matched by Liverpool tonight. Everything went in…lets just put this one past us and move on…

-- Arsene Bamba hurt his elbow after falling on it and will miss about a week and a half. Helder Cruz and perhaps Rafinha, who is very versatile, can slot in while he’s gone. DOVER INJURY: Arsene Bamba (2 weeks - elbow)

-- Elsewhere, Man United can only manage a draw against Newcastle, while Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City all win. We drop all the way down to third place after our first loss of the year.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 10 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Liverpool - 25 points
2. Manchester City - 24 points
3. Dover - 23 points
4. Manchester United - 21 points
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5. Arsenal - 19 points
6. Tottenham - 18 points
7. Middlesbrough - 16 points
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8. Chelsea - 15 points (9 games played)
9. Huddersfield - 15 points (9 games played)
10. Aston Villa - 14 points
11. Sunderland - 13 points
12. Reading - 13 points
13. Everton - 12 points
14. Newcastle - 9 points
15. Wolves - 7 points
16. Sheffield Wednesday - 6 points (8 games played)
17. Norwich - 6 points
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18. Birmingham - 5 points
19. Blackpool - 4 points
20. Fulham - 3 points



Another Dover WONDERKID???

-- So, reading the Liverpool post game media report, a brief mention of Rafinha’s embarrassing own goal is prefaced with the fact that he is a “wonderkid”. WHA?!?!?! Now THAT’S a pleasant surprise, as I had no indication previously of this - he’s already a 3.0/4.0 player as a 19 year old and can play anywhere down the left side (fullback, wingback, midfield, AML) and also play right fullback. He’s blocked at all positions for now but this information will be very useful in the future once he learns the English language.



Premier League Team of the Week

-- Despite the big loss, Paul Moses earns Team of the Week honours for his two goal performance.



Next Up

-- We have a pivotal Champions League matchup against Palermo, with the contest taking place at the comfortable confines of Crabble Athletic Ground.