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Reading and Paul Ince travel to Kenilworth Road on Tuesday evening looking to correct their form which has dipped as of late, with their October schedule seeing Reading only picking up 7 points from a possible 21 during. This poor run of form has seen them drop from the automatic promotion positions to 11th in the table, on the same number of points as Luton (currently 9th in the table), with an inferior goal difference (-5). Luton are looking to extend their decent form, which currently stands at 1 loss in 9, with 4 wins and 4 draws, and build on their hard fought point with Sunderland on Saturday.
A noticeable statistic from Readings’ 2022/2023 campaign so far is that they rarely share the points, with only one draw coming against Norwich. They were close to snatching a point against Burnley, but were unlucky to concede from a great strike in the 94th minute courtesy of Zaroury and Kompany’s Belgian revolution. In addition to their solitary draw, Reading have won 8 and lost 8, which has resulted in Reading performing significantly above their fans and fellow Championship viewers pre-season expectations of battling relegation, as a result of breaching profit and sustainability rules. This has left them under a transfer embargo, whereby they are unable to pay transfer, loan or compensation fees for players and can only sign free agents adhering to a salary cap, or loan players without associated fees.
Underlying statistics Reading, like Luton prefer for the other team to have the ball. Reading sit bottom of the possession statistics, demonstrating only 39.8% possession. Luton sit 23rd in the table with 41.4% overall possession. They are not in the best form on their travels, with 2 wins and 6 losses currently, scoring 6 goals and conceding 16. However, this will still be a tough game for Luton Town considering we haven’t made the Kenny a fortress yet this season with 2 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses.
Players to watch out for Thomas Ince has been the standout player for Reading this season with 4 goals and 3 assists. We certainly didn’t see the best of Ince at Luton, but his dad, Paul, has certainly got the best out of him. He is especially a threat from set pieces. Andy Carroll has not seen much game time this season, but whenever he is on the pitch, he will be a threat from both set pieces due to his great aerial ability, and open play due to his great strength and hold up play. He has scored 2 goals this season, interestingly he notched a goal against Bristol City, even though he was on the pitch for 2 minutes. Lucas Joao on his day is one of the more complete strikers in the Championship, athletic and strong, he seems to be over his injury issues, he has scored 3 goals so far this season, and providing he has the service from his midfield he will notch many more this season. So far in his Reading career, he has 41 goals in 96 games.
I also don’t like playing against Ovie Ejaria who seemingly glides past the opposition, and Yakou Meite, who scored 4 against us, in that 5-0 drubbing, during our great escape.
Prediction
Due to both teams preferring the other to have possession, we can expect a lot of channel balls, and for possession to change hands regularly throughout the match. Reading have been goal shy away from home, but their midfield and forward line are full of players that know where the back of the net is. However, Luton have not been able to impose themselves at the Kenny yet, so there could be goals in this game. I predict a 2-1 Luton win.
Date – 1st November 2022
Kick off – 19:45
Venue – Kenilworth Road, Luton
Head to Head record (previous 8 matches)
Luton Town 4 wins – 1 draw – Reading FC 3 wins
Date Result Competition
9th November 2019 Reading 3 – 0 Luton Championship
4th July 2020 Luton 0 – 5 Reading Championship
15th September 2020 Reading 0 – 1 Luton EFL Cup
26th December 2020 Reading 2 – 1 Luton Championship
9th January 2021 Luton 1 – 0 Reading FA Cup
21st April 2021 Luton 0 – 0 Reading Championship
19th January 2022 Reading 0 – 2 Luton Championship
7th May 2022 Luton 1 – 0 Reading Championship