Sports Mole previews Saturday’s League One clash between Reading and Huddersfield Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Both aiming to bounce back from consecutive defeats, Reading and Huddersfield Town will meet at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Saturday.
The visitors have dropped to fifth spot in the League One table after their fast start to the season, while their visitors sit 17th following a 5-2 beating last weekend.
Match preview
© Imago
Reading will go in search of a third League One victory of the season on Saturday, having suffered back-to-back defeats in recent weeks after making an encouraging start to the term.
In their second straight season in England’s third tier and second term under the management of Ruben Selles, in the midst of ongoing off-field uncertainty, the Royals earned seven points from their first four outings courtesy of a draw with Birmingham City and impressive 2-0 home victories over Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic.
They have failed to add to that tally in either attempt since returning from the September international break, though, firstly hosting Leyton Orient and seeing their perfect home record ended in a 1-0 defeat before facing a tough trip to promotion-chasing Bolton Wanderers last Saturday.
Selles’s men went into the interval 4-1 behind in that contest, with Dion Charles having notched up a first-half hat-trick for the hosts, and after Sam Smith reduced the deficit to two from the penalty spot from the hour mark, they were unable to force a comeback and saw Kyle Dempsey put the game out of sight and wrap up a 5-2 home win in the dying embers.
Having now dropped to 17th spot as a result of their consecutive defeats, Reading will be keen to bounce back at home and put three points on the board to kickstart a climb back up the table at the weekend.
Their visitors head to Berkshire also aiming to put back-to-back league defeats behind them on Saturday after making a fast start to their promotion bid this season.
Following their relegation from the Championship last term and the summer appointment of Michael Duff, Huddersfield Town set out to make an immediate return to the second tier, and they quickly established themselves in the leading pack before the international break.
The Terriers picked up nine points from their first four outings in August, netting eight goals along the way and only conceding twice, and they returned to action in even more impressive fashion this month, visiting Bolton Wanderers and dishing out a 4-0 beating thanks to Josh Koroma‘s brace and goals from Ben Wiles and Antony Evans.
Duff’s men have since seen their momentum slowed, though, firstly hosting Northampton Town last weekend and suffering a disappointing 3-1 defeat, with Koroma’s 80th-minute goal coming too late to spark a turnaround, before they most recently met Blackpool on Tuesday and again came away empty-handed as Kyle Joseph and CJ Hamilton fired the visitors to a 2-0 win with first-half goals.
Still sat fifth thanks to their fast start but left disappointed by the last week’s results, having now fallen four points behind the top two, Huddersfield Town will be desperate to bounce back to winning ways on Saturday to regain ground.
Reading League One form:
Reading form (all competitions):
Huddersfield Town League One form:
Huddersfield Town form (all competitions):
Team News
© Imago
Ruben Selles may opt to make some changes to the Reading starting XI which lost 5-2 to Bolton Wanderers last time out on Saturday, with first-choice goalkeeper Joel Pereira and experienced defender Andy Yiadom remaining sidelined by injuries.
Charlie Savage may come into the midfield from the outset, leaving Harvey Knibbs and Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan to operate in support of front man Sam Smith.
Huddersfield Town may also make some alterations after a second straight defeat, with Jonathan Hogg and Antony Evans both expected to return to the midfield from the outset on Saturday.
Danny Ward will return to contention after serving a suspension, but Duff does have an abundance of options in attack with Josh Koroma, Freddie Ladapo, Callum Marshall and Bojan Radulovic all competing to start.
Lasse Sorensen and Jaheim Headley will offer further support in wing-back roles, while Tom Lees, Michal Helik and Nigel Lonwijk will hope to continue in a back three.
Reading possible starting lineup:
Button; Craig, Mbengue, Bindon, Abrefa; Elliott, Wing, Savage; Knibbs, Smith, Ehibhatiomhan
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Lees, Helik, Lonwijk; Sorensen, Wiles, Hogg, Evans, Headley; Koroma, Ladapo
We say: Reading 1-1 Huddersfield Town
With both teams fighting to get back to winning ways, we expect a competitive encounter on Saturday and cannot quite pick a winner, instead backing Reading to take a point from a Huddersfield side who are not yet at their best under Michael Duff.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.