No win again for the Cottagers?
Reading gets a visit from third-placed Fulham. The visitors have fallen off a bit recently: no win for five rounds of matches, which is why the interim top of the table and even second place, which would also bring a direct ticket for the Premier League, have been lost.
However, only the last of their last five matches ended in defeat (0-4-1). The hosts, for their part, have very different worries: fourth bottom, they sit just outside the relegation zone into League One.
Reading – Statistics & current form
The ‘Royals’ narrowly missed out on relegation to the Premier League last season. Reading are now a long way from those heights.
The aforementioned predicament in the bottom of the table has not only arisen on the pitch, but also as a result of a six-point deduction by the English Football League for breaches of the association’s regulations. However, the hosts have not been convincing in sporting terms either.
About a week ago, they only managed a home draw against Derby. Admittedly, the team at the bottom of the table is much better than it looks on paper, as coach Wayne Rooney’s team is carrying a 21-point deduction with them and would actually be in mid-table in the Championship if it weren’t for this penalty.
Reading concedes too many goals
Nevertheless, the “Kennetsiders” cannot be satisfied with the way the season has gone so far. Here, the defence is particularly disappointing. Only three teams concede more goals than the Serbian coach Veljko Paunovic’s team.
Moreover, the 2015 FA Cup semi-finalists have lost their home strength: Since mid-October last year, they have not won on home soil. Instead, half of the following six home games have been lost.
Hoilet is back
But the comeback of Junior Hoilett in attack can be encouraging. The Canadian international returned to the starting eleven last matchday for the first time in around two months after recovering from injury and contributed both goals in the 2:2 draw against the Rams.
With the current lack of goals from John Swift, who has not scored in ten league games, the home side’s hopes now rest squarely on the shoulders of the 31-year-old veteran.
In light of his recent performance and Swift’s aforementioned lack of form, predictions on his next goal celebration are of added interest in the Reading-Fulham clash.
Predicted Reading line-up:
Southwood – Holmes – Dann – Ashcroft – Baba – Laurent – Dele-Bashiru – Halilovic – Swift – Carroll – Hoilett
Last matches played by Reading:
FA Cup
01/08 2022 – Kidderminster 2 – 1 Reading
Championship
01/03 2022 – Reading 2 – 2 Derby
12/11 2021 – West Bromwich Albion 1 – 0 Reading
12/04 2021 – Reading 1 – 1 Hull
11/27 2021 – Swansea 2 – 3 Reading
Fulham – Statistics & current form
The Londoners have forgotten how to win in recent weeks: As described at the beginning, four of the last five matches in the league ended in a draw and in the last match they even suffered a 0:1 home defeat in the relegation duel from the Premier League against Sheffield United.
The failure to score against the Blades was again synonymous with the results crisis of the recent past. The Cottagers scored just three goals in their last five winless encounters in the Championship.
Top scorer has lost his scoring touch
The most important reason for this is that current top scorer Aleksandr Mitrovic is no longer as efficient as he was before.
After his impressive run of seven games in a row with at least one goal between mid-October and November, during which he even scored a brace twice and on top of that a hat-trick against West Brom, the Serbian only managed one goal in the last five games in league and FA Cup in the draw at Luton against the Hatters.
Because of this, betting on less than 2.5 goals in the clash between Reading and Fulham is also a good idea. A limit that the visitors have not exceeded for five rounds of matches. The latter statement also makes it clear that while the attack has declined, the defence is still quite solid – as can be seen from only four goals conceded in this flashback.
Cottagers recently celebrated a victory in the cup
In the dress rehearsal for the upcoming match, coach Marco Silva’s side recorded a win in the FA Cup when they visited Bristol. They won 1-0 at their league rivals last Saturday, although the decisive goal came in injury time.
The home side were also in demand in the competition, but they did not celebrate a success – instead they suffered a 2-1 defeat against the fifth division side from Kidderminster.
Predicted Fulham line-up:
Rodak – Robinson – Ream – Adarabioyo – Tete – Seri – Wilson – Reed – Carvalho – Kebano – Mitrovic
Last matches played by Fulham:
FA Cup
01/08 2022 – Bristol City 0 – 1 Fulham
Championship
12/20 2021 – Fulham 0 – 1 Sheffield United
12/11 2021 – Luton 1 – 1 Fulham
12/03 2021 – Fulham 1 – 1 Bournemouth
11/27 2021 – Preston 1 – 1 Fulham
Reading – Fulham Direct comparison / H2H balance
In the first leg Reading won 2-1 away at FFC. Both goals were scored by Briton Oviemuno Ejaria, who had not scored before or since. It was Reading’s second consecutive win in this tie – both away from home.
This clash has not been a good place for the home side in recent times, with the Lilywhites also winning at Reading before the Royals’ two victories.
Reading – Fulham Tip
The Craven Cottage kickers have been waiting for their next win for five rounds of fixtures and this drought has knocked them off the places for direct promotion to the Premier League. This recent run has been particularly poor given that they have only faced a top team once in this winless run, Bournemouth leading the table.
For the upcoming match between Reading and Fulham, the tip is for a 1-1 draw. As described, the visitors are not in a good form, but this is also true for the home side.
In addition, the Londoners have not played a match in the Championship for about three weeks due to various match cancellations. Which in turn has resulted in a lack of competitive practice in contrast to the home side, who for their part played at least one league game the weekend before last.
Although the Cottagers competed in the FA Cup last Saturday, the previous long break from matches should still be noticeable for the third-placed team in the table. The prediction is also supported by the fact that the relegation-threatened home side would naturally be happy with a point against the third-placed team. At least their offence is reliable in the home games.
Only in one of the twelve games played in the Championship and the EFL Cup did they fail to score. Moreover, although they have not won recently, they have only lost one of their last five league games, which is why a draw is the preferred result for them at the moment.
Three of their four draws have ended in a 1-1 draw and their weak home defence, with only two clean sheets in a dozen home games this season, should be able to find at least one goal against the Cottagers’ out-of-sorts attack.
