Match Preview

When Saturday 2 December 2000, 3.00pm kick-off
Who and Where Cambridge United (Home, Madejski Stadium, League Division Two)
Ticket Info

Pay in advance or on the day, normal home match prices apply.
Upper West Stand: Adults: £18 in advance, £20 on the day. Concessions: £12 in advance, £14 on the day.
Lower West, East and North Stands:
Adults: £12 in advance, £14 on the day. Concessions: £7 in advance, £8 on the day.
(These prices also apply for visitors in the South stand)
North and East Stands are unreserved seating.
Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling the ticket office on 0118 968 1000.

Travel,
Food and Beer.

Home match - See away fans guide for travel, food and beer guide.

Team news

One thing is for sure Murty will definately be out injured. Caskey is back from suspension but Ricky Newman will be out after being suspended for last weeks game against Bournemouth which was postponed. Robinson could well make a start for the Royals. Cambridge have loan players Connor and Gudmundsson available for the last games of their loan spells - both are expected to feature. It's possible that midfielder John Hansen, on his way back from injury, could be on the bench for United.

Reading - from: Whitehead, Gray, Viveash, Mackie, Gurney, Robinson, Igoe, Gamble, Jones, Parkinson, Cureton, Caskey, Butler, Hodges, McIntyre, Rougier, Hunter.

Cambridge United - from: Perez, McAnespie, Duncan, Dreyer, Cowan, Taylor, Mustoe, Ashbee, Wanless, Russell, Connor, Youngs, Marshall, Axeldal, Gudmundsson, Hansen.

Form Guide

Cambridge are currently 11th in the Second Division table - 6 places behind the Royals who lie in a play-off position in the moment after dropping from first place in the table. After two straight league defeats - a 1-2 reverse at Walsall and a 0-1 home defeat against Colchester - and last week's postponement against Bournemouth, the Royals are desperate for a victory. Only a win will be good enough to restore our chances of automatic promotion this season. At home Reading have been invincible until the against-the-odds 0-1 home defeat on 11th November against Colchester. Before that we were smashing goals past everyone and winning game after game at the Madejski Stadium.

Away from home Cambridge have won two games, drawn three, and lost four - scoring 11 goals and letting in 15. Although they've let in a few goals when playing away they've only conceeded two goals at home in the league all season. Cambridge's last three league games have seen a 3-3 draw at home against Swansea, a 2-2 away draw at Wrexham, and a 1-2 defeat away at Wigan before that. In the first round of the FA Cup Cambridge put out Rochdale - winning 2-1 at home.

View Latest Second Division Table

Previous Meetings 

Since 1971 Reading and Cambridge United have met 20 times in the League and FA Cup - an interesting statistic is that the Royals have either lost or drawn all of our cup meetings with a draw and defeat in the FA Cup and two league cup defeats. In the league Reading have fared better with 8 wins compared to United's 5.
Reading wins: 8
Draws: 4
Cambridge wins: 8

Last season Reading failed to impress in their meetings with Cambridge, in the first season we'd played them in the league since the 1993/1994 season. At home we played out a disappointing 0-0 draw while away from home they beat us 1-3 in a game right at the start of the season:
15 January 2000: Reading 0 Cambridge United 0
14 August 1999: Cambridge United 3 Reading 1
Click on the result for match reports.

Back in the 1993/94 season I remember well the trip to Cambridge United for the first round of the FA Cup - getting soaked on the away end watching a dull 0-0 draw - the Royals then went on to lose the replay 1-2 at home! Thankfully in the league we managed the double with a 3-1 home win and a 1-0 win away.

Match Odds

Available at William Hill, where you can get permanent tax free betting:
Reading are strong favourites for a home victory - the following are returns for a one pound bet:
Reading win: £1.44
Draw: £3.60
Cambridge win: £7.00

Predictions A much needed 3-1 win for the Royals.
What do you think?
You can enter your Prediction on-line within the Hob Nob Anyone? Prediction League - and also be in with the chance of winning up to £150 worth of Reading FC vouchers.
Opposition Site  

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