When : Saturday 15th April 2023, 3pm
Where : SCL, Reading, RG2 0FL
Capacity : 24,161
Though the battleship chain and its two ton anchor has finally been cut and there is now some positivity about the place that the club will at last be able to sail in the right direction, the fact remains the visitors are already promoted and unbeaten since November so the chances are very high that this will remain pretty much a foregone conclusion and a feared new manager “splat”. But the important thing is that there is positivity again and that won’t be quashed by a foregone conclusion.
The expected toxic and negative atmosphere that would have helped the Clarets though has been drowned and that in itself will help the players, and hopefully the fans too, to be loud and proud and like a 12th man. Reading are currently on a run of 3 draws (wow!) in 8 while in comparison Burnley have won 16 and drawn 4 of their last 20 league games and though Readingh should be owed something after the refereeing joke at Turf Moor it’s a shame you can’t rely on that happening.
Burnley have threats all over the pitch. The biggest of which are Nathan Tella and Anass Zaroury. OK so they’ll probably struggle next season but in the meantime Burnley”s, and other clubs of their ilk, parachute payments and ability to keep much of a PL season’s squad after relegation have destroyed the integrity of the division and rather makes a mockery of clubs being able to compete on a level playing field.
Burnley have one injured player in Darko Churlinov while it seems Reading pretty much have a whole Chamionship team injured, however it will be interesting to see if there’s any sudden recoveries!
Not sure what to expect for this one from Reading but then Burnley’s expectation that they can just pick up the ball after it bounces off Carroll will also have disappeared. The good thing too is that Noel knows the youngsters really well and hopefully won’t be adverse to putting them into the team rather than saving them for 10 minute (at best) cameos while slagging the players off and telling everyone that there are too many injuries and no options. Hoping too that Noel will work with the players in training this week and look at the way Burnley play and develop a flexible gameplan or two so everyone understands their roles (and hopefully any punts at Andy’s head will be by way of crosses rather than just hopeful clearances) - might we also hope for some work being practiced on set pieces now that the management has changed?
If you’re going to this one then be positive and turn the noise right up, also make the life of the officials difficult after all the atmosphere at places like Anfield and Old Trafford can be worth a decision or two going the “right” way, especially after the embarrassing mistake made in the reverse fixture.
Referee
Oliver “2 wins in 16 games” Langford
Previously
01 Oct 22 > Reading 3-1 Huddersfield Town
09 Feb 22 > Bristol City 2-1 Reading
30 Oct 21 > Reading 0-2 Bournemouth
01 May 21 > Norwich City 4-1 Reading
16 Feb 21 > Bristol City 0-2 Reading
02 Dec 20 > Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Reading
19 Apr 19 > Bristol City 1-1 Reading
24 Nov 18 > Wigan Athletic 0-0 Reading
22 Aug 18 > Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Reading
17 Mar 18 > Norwich City 3-2 Reading
26 Dec 17 > Bristol City 2-0 Reading
28 Oct 17 > Reading 0-2 Middlesbrough
12 Jan 17 > Reading 0-1 Queens Park Rangers
03 Dec 16 > Fulham 5-0 Reading
04 Oct 16 > Portsmouth 2-2 Reading U23 (Trophy thing)
27 Sep 16 > Brentford 4-1 Reading
19 Jan 16 > Reading 5-2 Huddersfield Town (FA Cup)
16 Dec 15 > Hull City 2-1 Reading
11 Mar 14 > Leeds United 2-4 Reading
14 Dec 13 > Huddersfield Town 0-1 Reading
06 Mar 12 > Reading 1-0 Portsmouth
27 Aug 11 > Hull City 1-0 Reading
16 Oct 10 > Reading 0-1 Swansea City
Historically
Sadly, given the current form of both, Reading have an excellent home record against Burnley with just 1 defeat in 18 league visits. That defeat was almost exactly 42 years ago on 11 April 1981.
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket and go
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use a RoyalsTV subscription
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)
