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Sat. April 16, 2022
Barclays Premier League
Derby (7-9-18, 30 points, 17th) vs. Dover (19-9-6, 66 points, 4th)
Pride Park, Derby, UK
Betting Odds: Derby: 7-4 Draw: 11-5 Dover: 5-4 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 6W 0D 2L
Derby are in their third consecutive year of top flight football and despite being in a dangerous slot on the table, they are actually an astounding nine points clear of relegation, as Southampton (19 points), Blackburn (21 points) and Fulham (21 points) look destined for the drop with only four games remaining. This is pretty much a one-man show for Derby, as striker Niels Hendriks leads the club with 15 goals and in second is Joao Henriques Almeida with only 4. Old friend Fraser Forster is still their main man in goal.
Derby play well against flat 4-4-2 formations but I see no reason to change tactics and will stick with what's been working. I only make one change from the winning lineup from last week, reinserting Claudio Contreras at DC for Paulus Tjiuoro. I do call up Emmerson Harvey from the U18 squad to sit on the bench.
Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, , Mancini, N. Cairney, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea, Z. Bardi
Bench - P. Tjiuoro, J. Kuciak, S. Nasri, E. Harvey, A. Zubizarreta, C. Murray, P. Moses
As usual, Derby are in a 3-5-2 formation and they usually switch to five defenders if they get down a goal. Hendriks and Almeida are up front and Forster is in goal. I tell the team that they can win this today and pull aside Hamon and Renato Gaucho to tell them to pick up where they left off last week while also pulling aside Shanon Andrea to tell him I have faith in his goal scoring abilities.
24' - Kind of a bland start, as we aren't generating many chances. Derby get the first real chance as Almeida gets into our area and shoots but Wilke is there to turn it aside.
31' - Bardi gets the ball inside the area and his little pass inside to Bolis is saved by Forster.
38' - Bolis from a bad angle curls one off the crossbar and it bounces over harmlessly.
HALFTIME - We are controlling possession, holding 55% of the ball but have nothing to show for it. Shots are in our favour slightly 6-5 (1-1 on target). I contemplate a tactics change but I will stick with this for now.
Derby drop to five defenders in a 5-3-2 formation.
59' - We have possession in their end and Bardi passes to Andrea. He pivots and runs past one of Derby's central defenders and dribbles into the area. He uses his left foot and places the ball past Forster and into the net! We finally break them down! DOVER GOAL 1-0
72' - I take out our goal scorer Andrea and bring in Paul Moses and hope his speed on a break can get us an insurance marker.
76' - Samir Nasri is on for Mancini and we move to a counter attacking mentality.
78' - Arsene Bamba with a yellow card.
87' - Cameron Murray is brought on for Bamba.
BORING game but we'll take the three points!
Derby 0 - 1 Dover
Goals - Shanon Andrea (7.3)
Assists - Zoltan Bardi (7.1)
Man of the Match - Renato Gaucho (7.4)
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.3)
Attendance - 19,375
Super dull game to watch but we were efficient and gave them very little, holding 56% of overall possession and outshooting them 13-9 (3-1 on target). Claudio Contreras was given a 6.5 rating for some reason.
-- In the game of the week, Manchester United win away at Liverpool 2-1 and that allows us to move ahead of Liverpool into third place on the table. Chelsea walk all over Blackburn 3-0 and City beat up on Everton by the same score. Southampton lose to Aston Villa and with that loss, Southampton are officially relegated from the Premier League. City have also guaranteed Champions League play for next year.
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE 3 GAMES REMAINING UNLESS NOTED)
1. Manchester City - 79 points
2. Manchester United - 71 points
3. Dover - 69 points
4. Liverpool - 67 points
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5. Arsenal - 63 points
6. Reading - 62 points
7. Chelsea - 61 points
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8. Everton - 55 points
9. Tottenham - 53 points
10. Sheffield Wednesday - 53 points
11. Aston Villa - 52 points
12. Huddersfield - 49 points
13. Middlesbrough - 45 points
14. Sunderland - 43 points
15. Newcastle - 38 points
16. Wolves - 33 points
17. Derby - 30 points
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18. Fulham - 21 points
19. Blackburn - 21 points
20. Southampton - 19 points
FA Cup Update
-- Arsenal knock off Barnsley 1-0 and Reading beat up on Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 to both advance to the FA Cup finals. This is good news, as both clubs are already in the top six on the table so with Huddersfield assured of Europa League play due to their League Cup win earlier this year, we are certain that six of the top seven teams on the table will be taking part in Continental play, which is definitely better than only five of the top seven teams! I think we're pretty safe but now, we need to shoot for a return trip to the Champions League!
Champions League Update
-- Barcelona and holders Manchester City battle to a scoreless draw at Camp Nou while Olympique Lyonnais take control of the other matchup after a 3-1 win in Spain against Atletico Madrid.
Next Up
-- We host Chelsea in a key Premier League matchup at Crabble Athletic Ground.
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