Reading vs Birmingham – Reading enters this match on the heels of a 1-1 Championship stalemate with Bristol City. Reading had a 33% control advantage in that contest and 2 of its 7 shots on goal were successful.
Lucas Joo was the lone Reading man to score (72′). Seven of Bristol City’s 18 shots on goal were on target. For Bristol City, Tommy Conway struck at 45 seconds.
Reading hasn’t maintained a clean sheet in recent memory very often. According to the data, Reading’s defense has been penetrated in 6 of their previous 6 games, resulting in 11 goals being conceded.
Reading had lost its last three home league games coming into this match. Birmingham City enters the contest fresh off a 1-0 Championship victory over Blackburn Rovers in their most recent contest.
Birmingham City had 29% of the control in that game and made 9 attempts on goal, scoring on three of them. Reda Khadra (61′) was the lone scorer for Birmingham City. Blackburn Rovers, their adversaries, made 17 efforts on goal with 8 of them being successful.
A relatively small number of goals have been scored between Birmingham City and their opponents in five of the previous six meetings.
The average amount of goals scored per game during that time was just 1.67, with The Blues scoring 0.83 of those goals on average. We’ll shortly find out if this game’s trend can continue.
Reading vs Birmingham – Betting Analysis
According to the statistics for their regular-season meetings going back to 07/03/2020, Reading and Birmingham City have split the results evenly, with Reading winning three of those games, Birmingham City winning three, and 0 games ending in draws.
The two teams combined for 21 goals in these matches, with The Royals scoring 11 and The Blues scoring 10. That equals 3.5 goals per game on average.
On Championship Match Day 23 on December 16, 2022, Birmingham City defeated Reading 3-2 in the teams’ prior league meeting.
On that particular day, Birmingham City had 36% of the control and 6 of its 9 shots on goal were successful. Troy Deeney (2′, 23′) and Tahith Chong (36′) scored the goals.
With 20 shots on goal, 8 of them were on target for Reading. Tom Ince (94′) and Lucas Joo (82′) both tallied. Tim Robinson acted as the official.
With a completely healthy roster to choose from going into this match, Reading manager Paul Ince has no significant fitness concerns.
Joe Lumley, Amadou Mbengue, Naby Sarr, Tom Holmes, Andy Yiadom, Tyrese Fornah, Jeff Hendrick, Cesare Casadei, N. Guinness-Walker, Andy Carroll, and Yakou Mété could all be used by the Royals in the 3-5-2 configuration for this match.
The Birmingham City manager John Eustace does not have any fitness worries at all going into this game because he has a completely injury-free group to choose from.
John Ruddy, Kevin Long, Marc Roberts, Auston Trusty, Maxime Colin, George Hall, Krystian Bielik, Alfie Chang, Reda Khadra, Tahith Chong, and Lucas Jutkiewicz are expected to start the game for The Blues in a 3-5-2 formation.
Although it’s difficult to distinguish between Birmingham City and Reading, we believe that both teams should have ample scoring chances.
What are the top odds for the game?
Turning to the betting odds in the 90-minute result market, a win for Reading is available for 2.8, a bet on the draw is 3.16 and staking on victory for Birmingham City gets you 2.8. Those are the most competitive bets available at the current time.
Reading vs Birmingham – Head -to- Head
Our Prediction: Both Teams to Score
Recommended Prediction:
