[NoSkillz]

Tue. October 25, 2022

League Cup - 4th Round
Everton vs. Dover
Goodison Park, Liverpool, UK

Betting Odds: Everton: 11-5 Draw: N/A Dover: Evens (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 5W 1D 4L

We are road favourites against Everton, who we beat 2-1 at Goodison Park in our season opener. They are off to a very uncharacteristically poor start, sitting in 15th place right now on the table. They are coming off a 3-2 weekend loss to Chelsea.

Lots of changes today, including our usually static formation. Everton play well against a flat 4-4-2 so we'll go with our one striker formation and three attacking mids today. Said Henni is alone up front with Zoltan Bardi in behind him. Arsene Bamba and Graham Allan will be on the wings and young Gian Marco Fanfoni will start for the first time in a Dover kit alongside Neil Cairney. Kostas Zagos will play left fullback and Daniel Traore is in at DC. Manuel Perez is in goal today. A couple key players aren't even dressing, as I give Renato Gaucho and Chiquinho the night off. Lyubomir Kunchev is called up from the U18s to be on the bench.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - M. Perez
D - K. Zagos, D. Traore, C. Contreras, S. Loucif
M - N. Cairney, G. Fanfoni
AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, G. Allan
S - S. Henni
Bench - C. Guzman, S. Reed, S. Spall, L. Kunchev, G. Bolis, W. Rooney, S. Andrea

Everton are definitely starting a "B" side today, as top striker Chris Wood is on the bench and they are in a 4-4-2 diamond formation. Pierre Anton and John Guidetti are up front and I've never heard of either player. Franco Di Capua is in goal and Jack Rodwell is on defence, otherwise it's a pretty nondescript bunch at first glance. Oh, I see old friend Jozef Kuciak is starting at right fullback today too. Still, we can't take them lightly! I tell the team they can win this and pull aside Fanfoni to say there's no pressure on him tonight and also tell Graham Allan, who has struggled with us so far, that I have faith in his ability.

7' - We're not doing well with possession in the early goings and the first chance is to Everton off a free kick from distance but Perez is there to make the save on the header from Anton.

10' - Terrible defending as Anton is sent on a clear break but Perez again makes the stellar stop.

16' - Fanfoni sends a ball up to Henni and he's off to the races but Di Capua is up to the challenge and makes the save on his hard blast.

20' - Cairney is "ill-disciplined" tonight according to my assistant and he takes down an Everton midfielder and is given the yellow.

23' - We play some give and go passes in their end and eventually it's Neil Cairney from about ten yards out shooting a blast that hits the crossbar, then Di Capua's back and it deflects into the net! Officially an own goal by Di Capua but we're ahead! DOVER GOAL 1-0

HALFTIME - Wow. What a horrible game this is. No flow whatsoever on either side. Everton hold 55% of possession but we outshoot them 5-2 (1-2 on target). We don't look great so I switch to a flat 4-4-2 with a control mentality to start the second half. I tell the team I'm pleased thus far.

51' - Said Henni loses a race for the ball in Everton's end and blatantly fouls the guy who beat him. Yellow card.

55' - We win a corner and it's Bamba taking it. His cross to the far post is headed toward goal by Daniel Traore and then it's redirected en route by Said Henni and it's IN. Clever little touch by Henni and we have a two goal lead! DOVER GOAL 2-0

72' - Cairney was hurt and needed some treatment so with the game seemingly in hand, I take him out to rest him up for our next game. Shaun Spall comes in.

79' - Wayne Rooney comes on for Said Henni.

85' - We bring in U18 winger Lyubomir Kunchev for his first senior level game, taking out Arsene Bamba.

Dull match but it's a win and we move on.

Everton 0 - 2 Dover
Goals - Franco Di Capua OG, Said Henni (7.6)
Assists - Neil Cairney (7.0), Arsene Bamba (7.2)
Man of the Match - Said Henni
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.4), Claudio Contreras (7.1), Daniel Traore (7.4), Kostas Zagos (7.4), Gian Marco Fanfoni (7.5)
Attendance - 35,662

Bore game, as they edge us in possession 51% to 49% but we outshoot them 15-6 (3-2 on target). Yawn. Solid defence though and Fanfoni was impressive once again. He's got a lot of talent and with Rocca and Mancini out, I may give him a shot alongside Cairney for a bit to see how he does. Shaun Spall hasn't been the same player since breaking his leg last year.

-- We reach the League Cup quarterfinals, officially the furthest we've ever progressed in this competition.



Injury Update

-- Paul Moses is back to full training after missing a few weeks with a pulled hamstring.



Dover Reserve Team Update

-- We win 4-1 at West Brom, with Lyubomir Kunchev scoring twice and Paul Moses and Wayne Rooney adding singles. Midfielder Jamie Matthews had two assists in the contest.



Injury Update

-- Now we get Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz back to full training after missing three weeks with a back strain.



League Cup - Quarterfinals Draw

-- There are eight teams left and incredibly there are two League One teams remaining, with Colchester and West Ham United bucking the odds to get this far. We are drawn fifth and have a home match against West Ham, one hell of a draw!



Next Up

-- We head on the road to face mid-table Aston Villa in a possible trap game.