Peterborough and Reading are both battling against the drop and the two strugglers go head-to-head on Wednesday night. Mark O’Haire previews the Championship clash.
“No Championship club has kept fewer clean sheets than Peterborough and Reading this season with the two strugglers silencing their opposition on just three occasions each”
Peterborough turned over by Preston
Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson remained upbeat despite the Posh sliding to a third successive Championship defeat without scoring. Saturday’s 1-0 reverse at home to Preston – via an 80th minute Cameron Archer strike – leaves United camped inside the relegation zone having taken a solitary point from a possible 21 dating back to mid-December.
The winning goal came just 60 seconds after Joe Ward had smacked a 30-yard free kick against the visiting crossbar and Ferguson felt his side were unfortunate not to take a share of the spoils in a low-quality contest. He said, “It was a game we didn’t deserve to lose. Our goalkeeper didn’t have a save to make until he was beaten by a moment of real quality.”
Peterborough switched to a 4-3-3 system and Ferguson was pleased with how his players adapted to the new formation. Jonson Clarke-Harris, Reece Brown, Nathan Thomp and Ward were all handed starts and Ferguson added, “I’ve told the players if we play with that commitment and intensity for the rest of the season it will give us our best chance of staying up.”
Paunovic remains Reading boss
Confusion continues to reign around Reading ahead of Wednesday night’s crunch clash at Peterborough. The Royals fell to an eighth straight defeat across all competitions at the weekend, losing 3-2 at Coventry, and widespread reports suggested manager Veljko Paunovic was on his way out. However, the Serbian remains in situ at the time of writing.
Saturday saw Reading fans staging a protest before the match, calling for Paunovic to go, while a group of supporters spilled onto the pitch at full time to demonstrate their anger at the management, players and club hierarchy. Academy boss Michael Gilkes was expected to step up and cover in the interim, but the club are yet to announce or confirm any changes.
Junior Hoilett is suspended after collecting two yellow cards against Coventry but Yakou Meite made a positive impact off the bench after a long injury lay-off and should be involved again this midweek. Tom McIntyre also returned to the squad on Saturday, but Scott Dann, Alen Halilovic and Dejan Tetek all remain sidelined for the Royals due to injury.
Peterborough and Reading have crossed swords only nine times in league action since 1992 with the Royals returning a slight W4-D2-L3 supremacy. The Berkshire boys were 3-1 victors in the reverse encounter back in September, although Posh have picked up top honours in three of their most recent four match-ups with Reading at London Road (W3-D0-L1).
Peterborough 2.447/5 have been beaten in 19 of their 29 league outings since returning to the second-tier this season with Posh’s best unbeaten streak standing at just two matches. Darren Ferguson’s men have been at their most competitive on home soil, mind, with the hosts posting W4-D4-L6 here, including W3-D2-L1 when entertaining bottom-half dwellers.
Reading 3.002/1 posted W8-D3-L11 across their first 22 encounters this term. However, a six-point deduction and a seven-match losing streak has seen the Royals nosedive towards the bottom-three. Veljko Paunovic’s outfit have been beaten in 10 of their 14 away days, whilst performance data ratings have the visitors ranked amongst the worst in the division.
No Championship club has kept fewer clean sheets than Peterborough and Reading this season with the two strugglers silencing their opposition on just three occasions each. Games involving the duo have tended to be entertaining with both sides inside the top-five for goals per-game and so Over 2.5 Goals is an interesting angle at 1.9310/11 this midweek.
A slightly safer approach could be to support Both Teams To Score at 1.748/11. Posh have plundered multiple goals in five of six home ties with bottom-half rivals, whilst Reading have scored in six of eight trips to bottom-half teams this term, with the Royals now also able to call upon the majority of their big-hitters in forward areas after injury and suspension.
The two teams will be targeting top honours in this fixture, knowing the loser will end the night in the relegation zone, and so I’m hopeful an end-to-end encounter could play out as opposed to a traditionally tight six-pointer. Neither side convinces from a defensive perspective so attack may well be the best form of defence on Wednesday evening.
Source: Betfair UK English Championship
