10 March 2015
By Alex Bower
Tuesday night, Reading FC play at the Madejski Stadium against a team close to
the relegation places. Sound familiar? The result of such games would once be
easily predictable, but recently they have been everything but. Of the last five
games played on a Tuesday, Reading have lost three to lower-league
opposition in the form of Leeds, Wigan and Huddersfield. They have also only
taken a point from Millwall and Bolton. It would seem, therefore, that
Tuesday's are not the best day for Reading to play, especially against weaker
teams.
This time Reading take on Brighton, who are only one place below the Royals
in 18th and 19th respectively. The Seagulls will be coming into the game on a
high having beaten Derby in their last match at home. They have also only
been beaten once in their last five games. In comparison Reading have lost
three of their last five games in the Championship. Away from home, however,
Brighton have failed to win any of their last four on the road. Reading have also
failed to win their last three at home. The statistics don't look promising for
either team going into this one, but this would be the best time to turn things
around.
With an FA Cup replay added to an already extensive list of fixtures, and a
match at the weekend against promotion candidates Watford coming up,
Steve Clarke will probably have to make some changes to the squad that lined
up against Bradford on Saturday. While the Reading players have only had a
few days to prepare for this game, the Brighton players have been rested for a
week; one benefit of not having a cup run.
One change that Clarke may have to make is to take Alex Pearce out of the
starting lineup. Having suffered from a nasty broken nose in the last match, it
would be a risk fielding him against Brighton. The obvious replacement for him
would be young Jake Cooper, who has found himself on the bench more often
than not this season. His height would also be beneficial to the team in set
plays, both attacking and defensive, especially with the likes of defender and
Brighton top-scorer Lewis Dunk in the opposition lineup. It will simply depend
on whether Clarke is happy with fielding two youngsters in the centre-back
positions. Simon Cox, Garath McCleary and Chris Gunter were all on the bench
in the last match so are the other logical changes that Clarke would make.
If Reading show the same hunger that they did in their game against Bradford,
they have every chance of coming out of the game today with a win. Steve
Clarke has said on numerous occasions that the Championship is the priority,
but results have simply not been going our way. Tonight is the night for
Reading fans to get behind the team once again and make home advantage
count.
Form Guide:
Reading's form is currently as bad as it has been since the September/October slump. Reading have lost their last three home matches without scoring a goal (Leeds 0-2, Wigan 0-1 and Nottingham Forest 0-3). In our last six games in all competitions we have scored just two goals. Reading's last six league matches have seen a return of four points.
Brighton's last six games have seen them lose just once. During that run they have picked up 11 league points and pulled themselves clear of the bottom three and into 19th place. Their form is clearly far better than Reading's - but that is thanks to their home performances. Those six games have included three away from home - two 0-0 draws and most recently a 0-1 away defeat against Bolton. Brighton's last match was a very impressive 2-0 home win over Derby County last Tuesday night.
Betting Odds:
Recent Meetings:
The last four meetings between the two sides have seen one Brighton win (in last season's FA Cup) and three draws. However, before that Reading won six consecutive games against the Seagulls. Our last match at the Madejski Stadium was a 0-0 draw in the Championship in September 2013.
| Reading and Brighton - Head to head record (since August 1994) | |
| Games Between Reading and Brighton | 14 |
| Reading Wins | 7 |
| Brighton Wins | 3 |
| Draws | 4 |
| Reading Goals | 21 |
| Brighton Goals | 12 |
| Average Goals Per Game | 2.36 |
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