Blackburn tonight welcome high-flying, unbeaten Berkshire visitors Reading to Ewood Park in a match-up which pitches the 10th placed Lancashire side against their top-of-the-table visitors.
Last time out
Last time out saw Blackburn romp to another goal-laden victory. Their 4-0 away wn over Coventry was helped by a Sky Blues red card for Michael Rose in the 14th minute. Goals on the day came from Adam Armstrong (15′ pen, 49′), Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliot (62′) and Sam Gallagher (88′).
Reading were similarly impressive in brushing aside Rotherham 3-0 at the Madejski Stadium. Those goals were scored by Yakou Meite (41′, 79′) and Lucas Joao (90+2′). Those goals helped cement their place at the head of the Championship table on 19 points – a 5 point lead over Bristol City and Watford.
This time around
Blackburn enter the game as the division’s leading scorers with an average of 2.29 per game. This total was buoyed by Saturday’s four goals against Coventry and the five from earlier in the season against Wycombe. Rovers will be without Elliot Bennett, Bradley Dack and Lewis Travis through injury with Joe Rothwell also questionable.
Reading will arrive with not only the division’s only unbeaten record but also having conceded just once in their seven games this campaign so far. The Royals will be without Felipe Araruna, Jonathan Swift and Andy Yiadom for tomorrow’s game.
Last six games head-to-head
Honours are pretty even across the last six games between both sides. Blackburn have claimed two wins (12 goals in total), Reading have three wins (14 goals in total) with one drawn game – all games having both teams scoring. Last season it was all Blackburn, the Lancashire side doing the double over Reading with a 4-3 win at Ewood Park and a 2-1 victory on their travels at the Madejski.
Three things to expect:
1. Goals: both sides have proven more than capable of scoring this season – Blackburn being helped by two big wins. Reading aren’t slouches in front of goal either, their attacking players know where the net is.
2. Tactics and a chess match: Tony Mowbray knows his stuff and he will have set Blackburn up to nullify Reading’s obvious threats whilst probing for an opening to unlock their miserly defence. Veljko Paunovic has the Royals purring; expect that to continue. They will give Rovers a tough time tonight, especially given their defensive strengths.
3. Close opening 45, more open second half: it could be a tight encounter at the half-time whistle. Blackburn have won 86.36% of home games since the start of last season; Reading have won 69.23% of away games since the start of last season when seen as ‘outsiders’.
Prediction: Blackburn 2 – 3 Reading
