Reading v Preston North End: Match preview

Reading will look to return to winning ways tonight as they face Preston North End after suffering their first league loss of the season against Coventry City on Friday night.

In this game, the Royals will show what they’re made of – and how well they can recover from defeat. Tonight, however, they face a difficult task against a Preston team that haven’t lost a single away game this season. A win for the Royals would get us back on track, a loss would make us look over our shoulders. Who can be ahead of the game?

Here’s everything you need to know before that midweek tie.

Was? Championship matchday 10

Season? 2020/21

Who? Preston North End

Where? Madejski-Stadion

When? Wednesday 4th November

Time? 19:00

Oppositionsmanager? Alex Neil

The picture

Reading: DWWWL

Typing the first L was painful, it must be said – but I think that shows how far we’ve come compared to previous seasons. However, we haven’t achieved anything concrete and these last two games in the next international break could prove to be decisive. Earn four or six points – and we’ll be back on track. However, this will not be an easy task as two very capable teams try to get into the Madejski Stadium and knock the leaders off their seats.

Liam Moore’s injury makes things a little harder – and he’s joining Andy Yiadom, Felipe Araruna, John Swift, Ovie Ejaria and Yakou Meite on the sidelines – although I hope the latter two are fit enough to join the squad tonight of the match day to come. Another player recently injured is Tom Holmes, who is either still injured or unable to return to Veljko Paunovic’s plans for the time being.

Preston North End: LWWLL

If Alex Neil’s team can clear their home form they could be a force to be reckoned with this season. It’s fair to say that their games at Deepdale cost them dearly – given they are in the lower midfield – but the Lilywhites have been a team that I’ve been impressed with over the past few years. In Neil they have a manager who won the promotion and as a club they just seem like a very stable ship.

Full-back Darnell Fisher was born in Reading and played for Farnborough for some time before joining Celtic in 2011. He made multiple appearances at Celtic Park and was on loan at St Johnstone towards the end of his stint in Scotland before joining Rotherham United in 2016, he only spent a year with the Millers before moving to Preston where he was a key player. Another player who may come back to watch Reading is Scott Sinclair, who scored a hat trick in the playoff final against Swansea City. Please don’t do that, Scott, you’ve done enough damage as it is.

The last meeting

Preston North End 0-2 Lesung

The last game of 2019 was a Reading win at Deepdale, which was decided by two goals in the first quarter of an hour. In the 12th minute, Ovie Ejaria, Charlie Adam and Tyler Blackett joined forces on the left to give John Swift a great cross that took the ball home to 1-0.

Ejaria and Blackett were involved in the second goal three minutes later when the latter put off a challenge for Lucas Joao. After the Portuguese striker made a touch to calm himself down, he shot the ball past Declan Rudd into the net.

Those were another three points for the Royals at a festive period when they had a lot of success, although we had to thank Rafael for some of the crucial saves he made in that game. At that point we thought things couldn’t have been better – but then Fulham came next …

The last league game

Coventry City 3-2 Lesung

Unfortunately for Reading, this would be the game in which our unbeaten run in the championship finally came to an end. Gustavo Hamer’s well-placed shot past Rafael gave the home team a 1-0 lead at halftime. Veljko Paunovic was left with his biggest team talk of the season so far.

The break seemed to be the turning point for the league leaders when Lucas Joao equalized in the 66th minute.

After the Royals were rescued first by the crossbar and then by Rafael, Matt Godden shot a rebound home ten minutes later – and Sam McCallum nearly sealed the game when his evasive shot hit Rafael. The Brazilian goalkeeper will be the first to admit he should have done better there but I hope he recovers tonight like the rest of the squad.

George Puscas pulled one back in stoppage time to give Coventry a few nervous final minutes – but they managed to take all three points.

TTE-Statistiken

• Reading have now conceded five goals in two championship games after conceding just one in their previous seven league games.
• However, the Royals have won their last five meetings with Preston. A promising sign or a curse?
• The Lancashire team are unbeaten in the league this season. She won three and drew one.
• So far, however, they have not scored a single point in any of their five home games in the 2020/21 season.

Predictions

Probably reading set-up: Rafael, Richards, McIntyre, Morrison, Esteves, Hot, Laurent, Ejaria, Semedo, Olise, Puscas

I have to say that this was a pretty tough line-up with injury and rotation. The final five are likely to remain similar, with the exception of Liam Moore, who was injured at St. Andrew’s and may be out for a while.

This is a huge shame as the captain has played very well so far this season – but I think Tom McIntyre is more than capable of stepping on the plate and playing at the heart of defense alongside Michael Morrison.

Tomas Esteves had a mixed performance on Friday. However, he will likely start again on Wednesday with Omar Richards on the other side – with Andy Rinomhota and Josh Laurent in front of the defense as usual.

According to Tim Dellor, both Ovie Ejaria and Yakou Meite could be back for tonight’s game, although the two are unlikely to start together when they return to full fitness. In that case, Alfa Semedo could attack midfield again with Michael Olise at his side.

One player who didn’t do too badly on Friday was Sone Aluko. Although he made a few mistakes there, you could say that he wanted to make a difference and wasn’t shy about still being on the ball after the last few years.

Would I be dissatisfied to see him start again? Not at all – but it would be a huge boost if Ovie Ejaria and Yakou Meite faced a Preston side that will bring us our second straight loss in the league. I support the former to go straight back to the first 11 and make an impression. If Yakou Meite returns to the bench as well, he has the potential to change the game.

Is it rotation time again? The Royals have two games in four days, with Stoke City heading to Berkshire on Saturday – and Veljko Paunovic will want to take the international break with as much momentum as possible. Lucas Joao may not start both games, which means George Puscas could step in on Wednesday night.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens – but let’s start predicting results now. After losing in the West Midlands on Friday, it could have broken our confidence. However, I think we will get back on our feet tonight and get at least one point out of this game. On Friday I said it would be ideal if we conceded a goal. Tonight we have to keep it tight at the back. This could be a difficult task as Liam Moore is absent. That’s why I’m going to play a 1-1 draw tonight.

Score Prediction: Reading 1-1 Preston North End

Other championship games

Every Wednesday, September 4th (7:45 p.m. KO, unless otherwise stated):

Watford vs. Stoke City (7pm KO)

Birmingham City gegen Wycombe Wanderers

Derby County versus Queens Park Rangers

Nottingham Forest gegen Coventry City

Rotherham United gegen Luton Town