News and Views
Match Preview: Reading v Brentford
14 February 2017
By Alex Bower
"Brentford have got a great team. They like to play football as well. They have quality players upfront, in midfield, well basically everywhere in their team. We've seen that if you give them time and let them play then they are going to make it very difficult for us."
- Reading FC Manager Jaap Stam
"We know this league is hard and that every team will make it difficult to get a win. There will be more surprises to come, so we need to concentrate and keep going. Tuesday is another game we'll be trying to win."
- Reading FC Striker Yann Kermorgant
While the Valentine's Day fixture is not ideal for some Reading FC fans, the Royals will take on Brentford FC on Tuesday evening. Reading will be hoping to improve on their 0-0 draw at the weekend against Barnsley while Brentford will want to bounce back from a 4-2 away defeat to Preston North End.
Jaap Stam's men will have been disappointed with what was their second draw on the bounce. The Royals are, however, still very much in the promotion race and currently sit fourth in the Championship table.
The continuing concern for Reading will be their defensive injuries. Paul McShane, Joey van den Berg and Tiago Ilori remain sidelined while Jordan Mutch may miss out again after picking up a knock. Brentford manager Dean Smith, meanwhile, has no new injury worries but will be without Rico Henry, Alan Judge and Lewis Macleod.
Reading will once more go into the game as favourites but, as the Barnsley result demonstrated, anything can happen in this league. Brentford also happen to be somewhat of a bogey team for the Royals, with the Bees winning five of their last seven league meetings with the Berkshire club.
Regardless of result, the game should have plenty of plenty of goals if history is anything to go on. Brentford won the reverse fixture 4-1 back in September and their six league games in 2017 have seen 25 goals scored (13 for and 12 against). If Reading can show signs of improvement on the attacking front and cope with the ever worsening surface, then this game could be theirs for the taking.
Discussion On This Story:
Sutekh
Valentine's night sees Brentford come to town and one hopes that Reading will actually turn up for this one rather than the utter shambles of a team that took to the field at Griffin Park earlier this season.
Brentford are not quite the same team that they were when they first hit the Championship a couple of season ago but are still more than capable of causing damage and are likely to be well organised under the auspices of manager Dean Smith. They currently reside in the battle for mid table obscurity that we thought would probably be Reading's fate this season. They are very stop start in terms of league results having recorded some good wins but these are regularly punctuated by a malaise of draws and defeats (W4 D3 L8 of their last 15 league games). They also have not kept a clean sheet in 2017 - a run of 8 games (so I can guess what that'll probably mean then).
Midfielder Lewis MacLeod will miss the game with a long term injury while Alan Judge is recovering from a broken leg. Left back Rico Henry has recovered from a bad shoulder injury but the game may come to soon for him as her looks to build up match fitness.
Reading will be without McShane, Ilori, Berg, Harriott while Quinn and Rakels are not match fit. The club will be hoping that Jordon Mutch will be available again after picking up a minor knock at Ipswich. My expectation is for the same starting lineup as Saturday with the only change I can see, barring any currently unknown injuries suffered against Barnsley, being the return of Swift at the expense of Kelly. But then Jaap does have a tendency to sling the odd curveball into the mix now and then so feel free to speculate on this point.
Referee
After making a success of the same fixture last season, Hampshire's Keith Stroud will once again be taking control of affairs
Previously
19 Nov 2016 > Reading 3-0 Burton Albion
28 Dec 2015 > Reading 1-2 Brentford
07 Nov 2015 > Cardiff City 2-0 Reading
03 Oct 2015 > Reading 2-0 Middlesbrough
14 Apr 2015 > Reading 0-1 Bournemouth
29 Mar 2014 > Reading 1-1 Huddersfield Town
11 Jan 2014 > Watford 0-1 Reading
13 Aug 2011 > Leicester City 0-2 Reading
03 Apr 2010 > Ipswich Town 2-1 Reading
06 Feb 2010 > Doncaster Rovers 1-2 Reading
29 Dec 2007 > Tottenham Hotspur 6-4 Reading
22 Sep 2007 > Reading 2-1 Wigan Athletic
25 Feb 2006 > Reading 2-1 Preston North End
23 Aug 2005 > Reading 3-1 Swansea City (League Cup)
Historically
Brentford are one of the most common opponents for Reading with this game being the 82nd time the clubs will have met in the league. Of the 40 league games played in Reading to date there have been 22 wins for the hoops compared to just 8 for the stripes. However Brentford have won on their last three league visits (scoring twice in each game) so there is definitely something Reading have fight for to put right. On the upside though Reading have scored at least once in 33 of those 40 league games.
)Emeraldroyal
We're at home so need to dictate the pace of the game to them.
This hasn't happened of late and we've ended up chasing games and nicking draws or the usual mass possession with little penetration.
If the likes of Kelly / Gmac / swift pull the strings and express themselves a bit, we'll win. If they don't then oxf*rd knows what will happen.
I'll go 2-1 Reading. Kelly and Gmac and yet another backheel involved at some point
Happy Valentines
Ian Royal
Don't think some of the selections are out of choice. More necessity.
Grabban in midfield with Swift on the bench.
Gunter at centre back with Oxford on the bench.
McCleary / Williams / Beerens at RWB with Watson available.
There's certainly been some odd choices with other more conventional options available. It's a little too crowbar in perceived best players rather than picking the best team to fit the shape and accepting that means some of your best players sit it out where you've got depth.
Obviously he's doing a grand job and still picking up points so minor gripes... but I wonder if it could be better with some slightly different choices.
The Cap
Got a feeling that this game has a bit of the QPR's about it. Won't be there to see it , however will be around for the 'Fud game when I think we'll come back with a bang. Newbies still settling in, so I'm with Country on this one. 1-0 to Barnslee. Really hope I'm proved wrong. URZZZZZZZ!
Anyway, here we go again. Not too far away with the Barnsley prediction and, thankfully, the post saved us. The 'Fud are in town and I'll go 3-1 to us. Important game this one and fully expect the team to respond accordingly.
Sutekh
Reading
Habsi, Gunter, Obita, Moore, Blackett, Kelly, Williams, Swift, Mutch, McCleary, Grabban
Subs : Jaakkola, Evans, Meite, Oxford, Popa, Kermorgant, Beerens
Brentford
Bentley, Colin, Bjellend, Dean, Yennaris, McEachran, Woods, Vibe, Jota, Canos, Field
Subs : Bonham, Jozefzoon, Egan, Kerschbaumer, Sawyers, Clarke, Barbet
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