United with compulsory task against the ‘Royals’!
In the sixteenth final of the FA Cup, Manchester United receive the second division team from Reading at Old Trafford. The role of the favourite naturally goes in the direction of the home side, who are also in good form at the moment.
The last match in the Premier League was against Arsenal, who were top of the table, and the match last Sunday ended in a narrow 2:3 defeat.
The defeat should not have left any major traces on the home side, however, as the form is basically right at the moment and the victory in the EFL Cup this week showed that. For the match between Manchester United and Reading, the forecast includes a home win to nil.
Manchester United – Statistics & current form
The Red Devils are the most successful team in the history of the FA Cup after Arsenal. Manchester have already won a dozen titles and rank behind the “Gunners” with two less triumphs. The last success was seven years ago.
At the moment, the record champions, as described at the beginning, are also playing well. The departure of Cristiano Ronaldo during the World Cup break has obviously done coach Erik ten Hag’s team good in terms of team chemistry.
Rashford is “on fire “
In the attack, Marcus Rashford in particular has been very reliable since the resumption of play. The attacker has always recorded at least one goal in nine of the past ten games!
Given the home side’s efficient attacking line-up of late, betting on the home side to score more than two goals in the clash between Manchester United and Reading is also a good idea. This also applies to the odds on the home side to win both halves of the match.
United is very strong at home
Against the second division side, Manchester can rely on home advantage. Manchester have won seven of their nine home matches in the British top flight (7-1-1).
Only the champions City and Arsenal score more points per match on average in front of their own fans. The strength of Manchester’s performance on home soil can also be seen in the fact that league leaders Arsenal suffered their only away defeat at United.
Predicted Manchester United line-up:
de Gea – Varane – Wan-Bissaka – Martinez – Shaw – Eriksen – Casemiro – Fernandes – Antony – Rashford – Weghorst
Last matches played by Manchester United:
Carabao Cup
26/01/2023 – Nottingham Forest 0 – 3 Manchester United
Premier League
22/01/2023 – Arsenal FC 3 – 2 Manchester United
19/01/2023 – Crystal Palace 1 – 1 Manchester United
14/01/2023 – Manchester United 2 – 1 Manchester City
Carabao Cup
11/01/2023 – Manchester United 3 – 0 Charlton
Reading – Statistics & current form
Like Manchester, the ‘Royals’ entered the competition in the last round, recording a 2-0 win over league rivals Watford. In the Championship, on the other hand, things have not been going well for a long time.
The Berkshire side have been without another win for four rounds now, and their dress rehearsal for the match with Manchester last weekend saw them suffer a 4-0 defeat at Stoke City.
Promotion no longer an issue for now
Due to a meagre haul of just two points in this flashback, places in the play-offs for promotion to the top flight have moved further away for the time being and Reading have to settle for 14th place in no-man’s land in the 28-team division.
The latest match was also further evidence of the persistent defensive problems – only bottom-placed Wigan and Hull City concede more goals.
Tom Ince’s performance is also in need of improvement. Reading’s top scorer in the league so far has been waiting four games for his next goal for the team coached by his father Paul Ince!
The coach, for his part, has a track record of success in the competition. As a Manchester player, he won the FA Cup twice in 1990 and 1994.
However, the away record of his team in the current edition of the Championship cannot give him much hope: Reading have averaged 0.73 points in their 15 away games (3-2-10) – the worst record in the division!
Predicted Reading line-up:
Lumley – Holmes – McIntyre – Yiadom – Hoilett – Baba – Fornah – Loum – Hendrick – Ince – Meite
Last Reading games:
Championship
21/01/2023 – Stoke 4 – 0 Reading
14/01/2023 – Reading 2 – 2 Queens Park Rangers
FA Cup
07/01/2023 – Reading 2 – 0 Watford
Championship
02/01/2023 – West Bromwich 1 – 0 Reading
31/12/2022 – Norwich 1 – 1 Reading
Manchester United – Reading Direct comparison / H2H record
The last direct encounter took place around four years ago and was also in the FA Cup. On that occasion, Manchester beat the two-time champions of the Championship 2-0 on their own ground.
Thanks to the win, the hosts now have six consecutive victories in this tie. Furthermore, the last three home victories against Reading have all been without conceding a goal.
Manchester United – Reading bet
No less than 729 teams competed in this year’s FA Cup and the visitors’ chances of staying in the competition are slim. The representative from the Championship has only performed moderately in league play and now also has a particularly strong club from the Premier League in front of them in the form of United.
Admittedly, the hosts also had to play in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final this week and will thus be more tired than their opponents.
However, the first division side’s squad, which is also well-stocked in terms of depth, can undoubtedly compensate very well for this shortcoming with an expected rotation in terms of the starting line-up.
The forecast for the FA Cup clash between Manchester United and Reading therefore includes a home win to nil. The home bonus and the fact that the visitors are currently not convincing even in the Championship also speak in favour of this.
After four winless league games, Ince’s team currently occupies no more than a mid-table position and, on top of that, no team scores fewer points away from home on average.
