Reading v Southampton Preview

Reading continued their assault on the automatic places with a 2-0 win over Sheffield United last weekend, while Southampton now linger just a point above the bottom three after yet another defeat. A few years ago nobody would expect that Southampton would be the underdogs in this fixture yet now, the tables have turned completely and Reading must be sure-favorites for this one.

Steve Coppell must be wondering what his side has to do in order to break into the automatic places. Their form of late has been fantastic and just when it looked as though they would overtake Birmingham, the Blues also won meaning that Reading still trail them by a point. Still, it’s only early days and Steve Coppell must be delighted with the way things are going. Bristol City, Derby and Sheffield United have been their last three opponents and while all three of those sides are promotion contenders, the Royals have brushed them aside with ease. Bristol City were embarrassed at home 4-1, Derby suffered a 3-0 defeat while an in-form Sheffield United side were comfortably beaten 2-0. Those sorts of results must fill Coppell’s men with great confidence and Birmingham know that they can’t take their eye off the ball unless they want to lose their automatic position.

As for Saints, Jan Poortvliet had to endure another defeat last weekend. Although it was against league leaders Wolves and didn’t come as much of a surprise, Southampton fans must be sick and tired of their bad form these days. Over the season they’ve failed to gain any sort of consistency and while some fans were hopeful that their 3-2 turnaround against Preston could have sparked a run, that hasn’t been the case. After the Reading game Saints have fixtures against a lot of their relegation rivals so this time of the season is vital for Poortvliet and it’s important they start to get some results together.

Following some pretty fantastic form of late, Steve Coppell is hoping to keep things the same and is depending on Andre Bikey’s fitness to be able to do that. The defender decided not to play for his country midweek but Coppell is hoping he’ll pull through and be fit for the weekend. Visitors Southampton will be missing two players with Alex Pearce and Jason Euell both out. Pearce is currently on loan from Reading and is illegible, while Euell was sent off last week so begins a three match suspension.

As you will have read, we’ve been extremely impressed with Reading this season and think this game will be something of a formality for them. Southampton have a good chance in the next few weeks with some games against lower-half opposition coming up, but for this one Reading will prove far too strong – 3-0 Royals.