[NoSkillz]

Sat. May 4, 2024

Barclays Premier League
Dover (27-7-2, 88 points, 1st) vs. Blackpool (6-7-23, 25 points, 17th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 4-7 (Favourites) Draw: 5-2 Blackpool: 4-1
Past Meetings: 3W 0D 0L

Blackpool are one point above the relegation zone with only two games left and may be catching a break today, as we’ll be fielding a very young and inexperienced team as we rotate our squad heavily. Their last game of the year will likely be pivotal, as they face the team immediately behind them in Birmingham, who incidentally play Wolves today. Blackpool’s leading scorer is Lazaros Sentementes with 10 in 28 games and another striker, 23 year old Vangelis Angos, has 7 in 12 games after coming over on loan from Genoa in Italy in the January window.

We are starting a very young team today. Getting their first ever Dover starts are U18 players Norberto Vazquez and Adam Betts. Vazquez has 31 goals in 28 non-competitive games this year at striker while central defender Betts has a solid 7.44 average rating in his 28 non-competitive appearances. Other starters include Shanon Andrea, Felix Hernandez, Emmerson Harvey, Gian Marco Fanfoni, Lyubomir Kunchev, Rafinha, Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz, Steve Reed and Mathis Imbert in goal. We also have U18 players Gary Archer and Takfarinas Madani on the bench for the first time on our senior team. Control mentality at home despite us fielding a team more suited for a reserves match.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - M. Imbert
D - Rafinha, A. Betts, M. Yilmaz, S. Reed
M - F. Hernandez, E. Harvey, G. Fanfoni, L. Kunchev
S - N. Vazquez, S. Andrea
Bench - C. Guzman, T. Madani, G. Archer, A. Rocca, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, A. Broomes

Blackpool are coming out defending, with a very conservative 4-2-1-2-1 formation with 2 DMCs and Sentementes up front all alone. Nathan Potter is their keeper. I tell our young team this is very winnable.

4’ - Rafinha with an early yellow card.

35’ - Just nothing going on. Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz with a yellow now.

38’ - We win a corner and it’s Shanon Andrea taking it. It’s to the far post and Lyubomir Kunchev and he boots one right to Yilmaz, who hits it hard on the volley and it’s IN! Great little play by Kunchev to find Yilmaz and we lead! DOVER GOAL 1-0

HALFTIME - Drab match to say the least but we lead with a bunch of kids. 57% of possession is in our favour along with a 5-2 (1-0 on target) shot advantage. I encourage the team in the room at half.

49’ - A Shanon Andrea corner is to the far post and young Adam Betts but his fine header is stopped by Potter.

61’ - We take out Norberto Vazquez and bring in Zoltan Bardi, as we look for a second goal.

63’ - Bardi almost makes an immediate impact, feeding Kunchev down the right sideline then taking his cross right on top of the Blackpool keeper but Bardi’s shot is off the woodwork. Ugh.

68’ - Blackpool with a nice little long ball and Imbert has to make his first nice stop of the game.

73’ - Rafinha comes off and in comes Carlos Guzman.

87’ - Blackpool keeper Nathan Potter sends a ball up field and Emmerson Harvey heads it back over the defence. Fresh legged Zoltan Bardi gets there first, dribbles in and shoots low past Potter and it’s off the post and IN! Finally some breathing room! DOVER GOAL 2-0

We take out Shanon Andrea and bring in Andy Broomes.

90’+2 - We send a ball out wide to Felix Hernandez and he beats his man down the sidelines to open up a bit of room. He crosses into the area and there is Bardi again, simply volleying it past Potter and IN! That’s Bardi’s 10th goal of the year. DOVER GOAL 3-0

Nice win with a bunch of kids!

Dover 3 - 0 Blackpool
Goals - Zoltan Bardi 2 (8.6), Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz (8.5)
Assists - Lyubomir Kunchev (7.9), Emmerson Harvey (7.7), Felix Hernandez (7.4)
Man of the Match - Zoltan Bardi
Other Dover Notables - Steve Reed (7.4), Adam Betts (7.5), Rafinha (7.0)
Attendance - 22,191

We held 56% of possession and a solid 16-7 (5-1 on target) shot advantage. Our fine depth get a great opportunity and take advantage of it against a weak opponent. Adam Betts played well at DC - not bad for a completely unheralded prospect.

-- It was a key loss for Blackpool as their main rival for survival, Birmingham, scored a 3-2 upset win on the road over Wolves to jump into 17th place and temporary safety while Blackpool fall into the drop zone. City defeat United in the Manchester derby, Liverpool beat Huddersfield 2-0, Arsenal edge Newcastle 1-0 and Chelsea wallop Norwich 5-0. Spurs also win again to keep their firm hold on second place. All of the Continental spots for next year are locked in, with Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal getting in the Europa League in 2024-25. Fulham is relegated once again.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 37 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Dover - 91 points
2. Tottenham - 78 points
3. Manchester City - 76 points
4. Manchester United - 74 points
----------------------------------------------------
5. Chelsea - 68 points
6. Liverpool - 67 points
7. Arsenal - 64 points
----------------------------------------------------
8. Middlesbrough - 58 points
9. Reading - 56 points
10. Aston Villa - 53 points
11. Sunderland - 49 points
12. Newcastle - 48 points
13. Everton - 42 points
14. Wolves - 36 points
15. Sheffield Wednesday - 36 points
16. Huddersfield - 35 points
17. Birmingham - 27 points
----------------------------------------------------
18. Blackpool - 25 points
19. Fulham - 21 points
20. Norwich - 19 points



Barclays Premier League Team of the Week

-- Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz makes the team of the week after scoring against Blackpool from his central defence position.



Dover Reserves Team Update

-- Shanon Andrea breaks a season-long goal scoring slump but unfortunately it’s in a reserves game, as he scores all three goals in our 3-1 win over Reading.



International Update

-- Three of our youngsters are called up by their respective U19 clubs: Felix Hernandez (France U19), Steven Potter & Anthony Gardiner (England U19) get the call.



Dover U18 Update

-- Norberto Vazquez bags a brace and we get singles from James Campbell and Jay Doyle in a 4-0 win over Wycombe. That locks up yet another U18 championship for our club!



Injury Update

-- Rayane Hamon returns to full fitness, just in time for our Champions League final preparations!



Next Up

-- Our final game of the Premier League season is at home versus mid table Aston Villa. With nothing to play for, we’ll hope to keep everyone healthy for our Champions League final matchup in a couple weeks.