League action is back!
The Royals narrowly went through to the second round of the Carabao Cup last Saturday, beating Bromley on penalties. It was Joel Pereira that had the last laugh in that game, saving Ethon Archer’s penalty, but plaudits should go to Kyreece Lisbie, who had a great game.
Lewis Wing missed a penalty but the captain settled that by kicking off the scoring in the shootout. It will be Stevenage that Reading play in the next round (which I predicted), so we will be able to focus on the league at least.
Luton Town beat Gillingham 3-0 in the cup, with their campaign getting off to a smoother start than the Royals’. Goals by Nahki Wells, Bennadict Benagr and Giddeon Kouda sealed the deal for the Hatters, who face Chelsea in the next round. So it is likely Luton will also be focusing on the league, but these games are never predictable.
We finally hit matchday one of League One, with Reading vs Luton kicking off at 12:30 on Saturday. It will be available on Sky Sports and will be played at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, which has a capacity of 24,161. The referee to take us into league action will be Leigh Doughty.
In this preview I will look at the previous game, highlight stand-out performers and look at what needs to improve going into this one. I’ll also give some hot takes for the season and end it off by giving my predictions.
Bromley
Penalties in this game is something that could have been avoided. Reading were the better side for most of the game and had enough chances to put it away.
The goal conceded was very easy to stop though, with Paudie O’Connor and Joel Pereira having a mix-up at the back. Plus, Wing missing a penalty is never on the bingo card.
In a disappointing game there were stand-out performers, however.
Lisbie was good down the wing; his pace worked really well and he created a few chances down that right-hand side.
Similarly, Daniel Kyerewaa was putting in a shift down the other flank. Defensively he was really good and I thought he was left a little isolated sometimes on the attack.
Josh Stokes was also class with his goal and balanced the midfield pretty well. In him I think we finally have our Harvey Knibbs replacement.
Poor performances included:
Both centre-backs – in O’Connor and Benn Ward. Ward was lucky in my opinion to not have given away a penalty in the first half. O’Connor was at fault for the goal conceded and overall had a bad game. He was lucky not to be carded and I hope in the future he is able to show his experience a little more.
Andy Rinomhota was a nothing player. I barely noticed he was on the pitch, which I am unsure is a good thing or not.
Overall, a victory on penalties was always the way Reading were going to win this game if they did. We are just that club. But we are through and play our bogey team in what is always the most boring game ever, with Stevenage beating us with a late/early goal to finish 1-0 to the home side.
Hot takes
Hot takes have been going around this week, with league football starting up again. I am going to give some of mine and I would like to see if people agree or disagree with them.
- Ward will outperform O’Connor this season and prove himself as a mainstay in our defence
- Lisbie will show just how good… Kyerewaa is. Kyerewaa will outperform him and be our second-best attacker this season, behind Jack Marriott
- Charlie Savage (if he stays) will be benched by both Rinomhota and Liam Fraser as the club will look to force him out the club to make money
- Jeriel Dorsett will get player of the season
There’s four – if you want any others to do with fixtures or cup runs then let me know!
Predictions
Pereira will be in goal.
The back four will consist of Ashqar Ahmed, O’Connor, Udoka Godwin-Malife and Dorsett.
The two holding midfielders will be Fraser and Wing.
The three in front of them will be Lisbie, Stokes and Kyerewaa.
Up front will be Marriott.
Score prediction: 3-2 Reading
Good luck to those going to the game.
Come on you Royals!