[NoSkillz]

Wed. November 12, 2025

Barclays Premier League
Dover (10-0-0, 30 points, 1st) vs. Birmingham (3-3-5, 12 points, 15th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, England

Betting Odds: Dover: 1-6 (Favourites) Draw: 5-1 Birmingham: 10-1
Past Meetings: 6W 0D 1L

Birmingham spent two years in a row in the Premier League, got relegated last year but went down and simply won the Championship in their first year back, gaining automatic promotion. They’ve started off quite well, with 12 points from 13 matches thus far and they’ve always played us close so I don’t expect a blowout or anything today. Only four new players were brought in at a modest total of £2.1 million. Former Dover youth prospect Arron Williams is on their club and their leading scorer is striker Jamie Booth, with three goals thus far.

We have just come off an eight day break and go on an international break after this one so we can start a full-strength side today. Arsene Bamba is the only addition to the winning lineup we fielded against Spartak Moscow and Mads Pedersen is back on the bench after returning from his injury.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - Renato Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, B. Raab, Jose, G. Bolis
S - P. Moses, Chiquinho
Bench - R. Lopez, M. Mutesa, E. Harvey, N. Cairney, S. De la Vega, M. Pedersen, A. Broomes

4-4-2 diamond formation for Birmingham today, with Booth and Sosthene Ntagungira up front (what a mouthful!). Edwin Leferink is in goal and I tell the team to play well for the fans.

21’ - Talk about Champions League hangover! We are doing nothing and a few of our players, including Paul Moses, are playing complacently. Birmingham actually score off a free kick but it’s ruled out due to offsides. No goal.

30’ - Well, they couldn’t keep us down for long, as Benedikt Raab feeds a nice through ball to Moses and he dribbles in and places an accurate shot past Leferink and we lead. DOVER GOAL 1-0

39’ - Jose feeds Moses and he takes the ball, jukes past a defender and walks right in, rounding the keeper in trademark fashion before depositing the ball into the goal. That’s two for Moses! DOVER GOAL 2-0

45’ - We have a corner and Raab’s cross is to the near post and it’s Chiquinho, scoring on a very rare header to give us a three goal lead at the break! Weak goal. DOVER GOAL 3-0

HALFTIME - Well, Birmingham are holding the ball well, with a whopping 56% of possession but we outshoot them 16-2 (7-0 on target). It hasn’t been close since the slow opening 20 minutes. I tell them I’m pleased.

50’ - NOOOOO!!! Raab is hurt, has the cross of doom and signals for the bench. FUCK! I bring in Neil Cairney. Please don’t be a long-term injury… DOVER INJURY: Benedikt Raab

52’ - Gianluca Bolis has been hot lately and he’s screaming down the right side. He crosses into the area and it’s Arsene Bamba, sliding after it and sending it into the net! DOVER GOAL 4-0

71’ - Bamba comes off and in comes Mads Pedersen.

86’ - Emmerson Harvey comes on for Jose.

Ok. Easy win - now come on Raab - be okay!

Dover 4 - 0 Birmingham
Goals - Paul Moses 2 (9.2), Chiquinho (8.3), Arsene Bamba (8.1)
Assists - Benedikt Raab 2 (8.2), Jose (7.5), Gianluca Bolis (8.1)
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.1), Salim Loucif (7.6), Rayane Hamon (7.7), Claudio Conteras (7.6), Renato Gaucho (7.6)
Attendance - 21,615

We dominate the second half and end up with 52% of the ball and a 28-4 (11-1 on target) shot advantage.

-- In other action, Newcastle upset Sunderland 2-0, Liverpool upend Huddersfield by the same score, as does City over Sheffield United. Tottenham also destroy Reading 5-0.

-- Thank goodness!!! Benedikt Raab suffers bruised ribs and will miss only five days or so. Crisis averted! DOVER INJURY: Benedikt Raab - Bruised Ribs (5-7 days)


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 12 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Dover - 33 points (after 11 games)
2. Manchester City - 29 points
3. Manchester United - 29 points
4. Liverpool - 24 points
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5. Tottenham - 18 points (after 11 games)
6. Sunderland - 18 points (after 11 games)
7. Sheffield Wednesday - 17 points
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Injury Update

-- Ingo Wilke comes down with food poisoning but should only miss a few days of training.



International Update

-- Gaining youth caps are Emmerson Harvey (England U21 - one goal), Michel Benard (France U21), Adrian Torres (Spain U21), Jordan Tandy, Neil Evans, Andrew Hunter and Liam Pearce (England U20), Alberto Velazquez (Mexico U20 - five goals in two games), Fernando Estrada and Luis Miguel Garcia (Mexico U20) along with Lorenzo Raimondi (Belgium U19).

-- Senior caps go to Salim Loucif (Algeria - one assist), Gianluca Bolis (Italy), Sergio De la Vega (Argentina - three assists), Rodolfo Lopez (Argentina), Claudio Contreras (Argentina), Mads Pedersen (Denmark - one goal), Jose (Brazil - four assists in two games), Neil Cairney (Scotland - one goal), Chiquinho (Belgium - two goals in two games), Zoltan Bardi (Hungary - four goals in two games), Mwemere Mutesa (Rwanda), Rayane Hamon (France - one goal), Paul Moses and Chris Davies (England). Moses got a 3.6 rating in his game against Brazil - one of the lowest ratings I’ve ever seen.



Dover Contract Extensions

-- We get two more key players signed to extensions, as Neil Cairney and Gianluca Bolis both agree to three year deals. We have pretty much everyone locked up at this point.



Premier League Team of the Week

-- Gianluca Bolis, Benedikt Raab and Paul Moses are named to the team of the week.



Next Up

-- We host Middlesbrough in Premier League play.