Reading v Q.P.R. Betting Tips: Visitors’ revival to come to an end at Madejski

Thursday’s Championship match sees promotion pushers Reading take on relegation strugglers Queens Park Rangers at The Madejski Stadium.

Reading are currently on a fantastic run in the second tier with nine wins in their last 11 matches putting them an impressive third in the table. They may have been hammered 4-0 by Manchester United in their recent FA Cup tie but there is no danger that that will have knocked their confidence going into this match against Q.P.R.

Jaap Stam has got his Reading side playing good football and they are an attack-minded side who score goals as proved by the fact they have found the back of the net 36 times in 24 games – more than anybody else in the play-off places. Unfortunately though, they can be quite vulnerable at the back and have not kept a clean sheet in their last seven league matches.

The Royals home form has been exceptional this season and they have lost just once in 12 matches at the Madejski Stadium, winning their last five.

Queens Park Rangers had lost six matches on the bounce under new manager Ian Holloway but have now recovered to win their last two Championship games, although they lost against Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup last week. However, those two league victories see Rangers climb up to 17th, five points clear of the bottom three.

Whilst the Hoops may have won their last couple of games, they are still leaking goals and are without a clean sheet in all competitions since 18th October – before Holloway even took the job. After going four matches without scoring, Queens Park Rangers now seem to have found their shooting boots which has seen them find the back of the net in their last three. However, when your defence is that rocky, you won’t be winning too many matches – regardless of how many goals you’re scoring at the other end.

Rangers’ form on the road has been pretty abysmal this season and they recently went on a run where they picked up just one point from a possible 15 away from Loftus Road. They did beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux in their last away fixture but it must be noted that Wolves have been much better away from home this year and so this result was not that surprising.

I cannot see beyond a Reading win here and think they should record a comfortable victory – one where they score at least two goals – against a wobbly Q.P.R. back-line. With this in mind, ‘Reading to Win and Over 1.5 Goals’ is definitely a bet to be on at 6/5. The home side have scored plenty of goals of late (netted at least twice in each of their last five at home) and should be capable of doing so once more. 

I also really like the look of ‘Reading to Score in Both Halves’ at 2/1. Again, that Rangers defence is pretty shambolic and The Royals should be rolling them over here. Additionally, Reading have scored in both halves in three of their last five home matches, against better opposition than Q.P.R. 

Click here to see more Championship tips.