The fourth gameweek of the SkyBet Championship kicks off with a match between 20th place Reading and table-toppers Blackburn Rovers. The former PL champions are looking to make a sustainable effort at the promotion push this season, winning all three of their matches so far this season and looking in good form. On the other hand, Reading sit 20th, having only won once of their opening three matches, being a 2-1 win against Welsh club Cardiff City. Reading manager Paul Ince will be hoping that his side will be able to salvage something against the bookies’ favourites and break their unbeaten run.
Reading vs Blackburn: Match Details
| Match | Reading vs Blackburn Rovers |
| Date | 18th August 2022 |
| Time | 12:30 am |
| Venue | The Madejski Stadium, Reading |
Reading vs Blackburn: Broadcast Details
SkyBet Championship matches are streamed on Viacom18’s channels, like JioTV, Colours Infinity and Voot.
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Reading vs Blackburn: Team Betting Odds
The bookies are putting odds of 3.30 to a Blackburn Rovers win on Wednesday.
Reading vs Blackburn: Head-to-Head Stats
Reading leads the head-to-head record, having won three of their last five meetings with Blackburn. The Royals won their most recent match 1-0 against Blackburn in March 2022.
Reading vs Blackburn: Players to Watch Out
Tom Ince
The English attacking midfielder is very versatile, and is able to play as a forward as well. He has already scored for Reading since joining the club in the summer, and has only playedtwo games for the club so far. He is also the son of manager Paul Ince.
Shane Long
The Irish striker was most recently on loan at Bournemouth from Southampton, and he has now joined Reading as their main striker in the summer. Long had been with the Saints since 2014, but he wasn’t known for his goal-scoring ability, only 28 goals in nearly 200 league appearances.
Joe Lumley
Joe Lumley has been a bit of a journeyman throughout the English football pyramid, having been on loan at nine different clubs since he started his football career at Queen’s Park Rangers in 2013. He is now on loan at Reading from his parent club Middlesbrough, and is hoping to convince manager Paul Ince into making him the club’s first choice goalkeeper.
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Reading vs Blackburn: Predicted Line-Ups
Reading XI: Lumley; Yiadom, Holmes, McIntyre, Guiness-Walker; Fornah, Loum; Ince, Hoilett, Hendrick; Long
Blackburn XI: Kaminski; Brittain, Phillips, Ayala, Pickering; Travis, Buckley; Hedges, Szmodics, Diaz; Gallagher
Reading vs Blackburn: Team News
Reading currently have a number of injury concerns, with Liam Moore, Lucas Joao (both knee), Ovie Ejaria, Femi Azeez (both hamstring), Sam Hutchinson (leg), Yakou Meite and Scott Dann (both calf) all unlikely to return until at least the end of August.
As a result, Ince’s ability to change a losing side following the weekend’s heavy defeat to Rotherham is limited, so the same group of players may be asked to demonstrate that the loss was a blip by putting on a much better performance.
Meanwhile, Blackburn will be without defender Scott Wharton due to a calf injury.
Ashley Phillips, 17, deputised alongside Daniel Ayala at the heart of the defence during Sunday’s win over West Brom, and he should get the nod from his manager to start again, assuming he can shake off the knock that forced him off as a precaution in injury time.
Dack, Tayo Edun, and loanee Tyler Morton could all come off the bench as Tomasson tries to keep a consistent starting XI.
Reading vs Blackburn: Match Predictions
Given their increased confidence and recent success, we can see the visitors running wild.
Diaz and Gallagher are in excellent scoring form at the moment, and with Joao still out injured, Reading lacks a consistent source of goals while appearing to be leaky in defence. We predict a 2-1 away win for Blackburn Rovers.
