Reading may sit eight places above Bristol City heading into their contest at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night, but the struggling Royals could find themselves below their opponents in the table when the full-time whistle blows.
Reading’s 8 point hall from their first 8 games is only two more than Bristol City’s 6, and Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Coventry has done little to inspire belief that last season’s playoff finalists are poised to kick their 11/12 campaign into a higher gear. Reading have two victories to their name this season – a 2-0 away win at Leicester on the second weekend of the season, and a 2-0 home win against a Doncaster side without their best players and just days away from getting rid of their manager. In their other contests, Brian McDermott’s side have failed to take advantage of a less than daunting early season fixture list. Millwall should have claimed a win at the Madejski Stadium on the opening day before two late Reading goals forced a 2-2 draw, while Barnsley, Hull, Portsmouth and Watford have all taken three points from the Berkshire side.
Of better news for Reading could be the developing partnership at centre back between Alex Pearce and Kaspars Gorkss, as praised here by Jobi McAnuff. Reading are yet to concede more than twice in a game this season, and have now conceded just one goal in over a 180 minutes of competitive football (Gary McSheffrey’s second minute strike for Coventry at the Ricoh on Saturday).
The Reading defence will certainly be looking to improve their record against a Bristol City team that has only scored more than one goal in a game once this season – like Reading, the Robins earned an early season win (2-1) away to Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium. However, Ipswich, Portsmouth and Brighton have all travelled to the south west and kept the hosts off the scoreboard – a 79th minute Brett Pitman goal to salvage a 1-1 draw against Hull City on Saturday was the first home league goal of the season for Keith Millen’s men. That leaves the manager with a selection problem for tonight, after Pitman’s appearance from the bench on Saturday came after the two first choice strikers – Jon Stead and Nicky Maynard – were replaced.
These sides have totalled just three wins between them all season – with one each of those against Leicester, and Reading’s victory over Doncaster not exactly a sign of dramatic improvement. However, it is hard to see what justifies the 8/5 price on the Royals – making them clear favourites. City have lost just two of their last five in the league, a 2-1 defeat at Elland Road where the Robins will feel they should have gained a point, and a 1-0 defeat at home to high flying Brighton. Both Cardiff and Ipswich scored three against City to begin the season, but since then the defence has tightened up conceding six goals in six games. With Reading hardly prolific in front of goal that could make this a tight and low scoring encounter.
2/1 on Bristol City does seem a reasonable price then, but the draw is a very live player in this match with the inability of either side to take three points often this season. The better bet may then to be to take the 11/10 available on Bristol City as a ‘draw no bet ’proposition. Considering how evenly matched these teams look, having odds against on the hosts is a good opportunitym as it is hard to see Reading as favourites to take all three points based on their respective efforts this season. With Jimmy Kebe also expected to be missing from the visitors starting line-up, Robins fans may be the happier by 10pm this evening.
It should also be noted that the under 2.5 goal price is a best price 8/11 – the correct price for this one and not worth taking on.
Suggestion:
BRISTOL CITY v Reading: Draw-no-bet 1pt @ 11/10 (Bet365, Skybet, Paddy Power, Coral)
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