Friday evening’s Championship weekend opener sees two mid-table sides go head-to-head with both of them looking to break into the playoffs this season. Their last six fixtures have produced identical results but you would argue Ipswich are in the better form.
Reading have been stuttering a bit recently and even their recent win against fellow playoff hopefuls Cardiff City was a bit of a lucky break. Manager Jaap Stam is still looking to sign a striker with the Royals lacking a real out-and-out goalscorer. Former Sunderland man Asamoah Gyan was close to a move to the Madjeski on transfer deadline day but was not deemed fit enough by Stam. Their search for a forward now goes into the free agent market.
Ipswich are currently on a three match unbeaten run which included a win at home against Preston North End as well as away draws away at Wolves and at home to East Anglian rivals Norwich City; both of whom have invested heavily in players this summer. Like Reading, Ipswich did no business on transfer deadline day having wrapped their recruitment up much earlier in the window. New signing Grant Ward is currently one of the Championship’s top scorers with four goals – although three of those came in a hat-trick on his debut.
The Tractor Boys are not the best going forward but have an extremely reliable defence, the latter in particular being a trademark of Mick McCarthy’s teams which should really help them on Friday night.
In terms of this match I would have to back Ipswich. Reading were lucky in that win against Cardiff, whilst it took penalties for them to beat League One MK Dons in the League Cup in the fixture that preceded that. In truth, i just am not convinced they will do much to trouble this solid Ipswich defence.
I can only assume the bookies have gone for home advantage when looking at the odds as they have made Reading favourites – somewhat odd when you look at the results in greater depth.
Backing Ipswich to win this fixture looks a good bet at 14/5 and I would ever go further and back Ipswich to win without conceding here – a bet that is well worth a go at than that with Ipswich to win to nil at 5/1. As previously mentioned, the Royals do not have a proper goalscorer who will threaten Ipswich whilst McCarthy is the master of solidity. These type of away games are perfect for him.
If you are feeling a bit more cautious then taking ‘Ipswich Draw No Bet’ at 8/5 isn’t a bad bet either.
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