When : Wednesday 17 March 2021, 7.45pm
Where : St Andrews, Birmingham, B9 4RL
Capacity : 30,016
Another game to play and another game where really 3 points is a must to keep the gap a wide as possible to 7th place especially with the April Reading have scheduled.
This will be the second visit to St Andrews this season to play league football live on Sky and let’s hope it goes a bit better than the last disappointment, though the Sky win ratio has improved slightly since that Coventry game and is now up to a whopping 6 wins from 23 live games.
The second statistic to improve further is the dreadful away midweek league record which has seen a massive 4 wins from 42 games (a win ratio of 9.5% ) since April 2014. At least this one is against a team beginning with ‘B’ so there is a chance of victory (plus the last time Reading made the play offs they managed to win an away midweek league game at Birmingham City).
Birmingham have been rather odd this season. Reasonably decent and hard to beat when on their travels but utterly **** at home and that home form is the reason they’re 1 place above the relegation places. So far this season the blues have only managed 3 home wins (v QPR, Huddersfield and Brentford) but have been turned over on 12 occasions so there appears to be something for Reading to try and exploit (especially after the standard capitulation to Brum at the Mad Stad earlier this season).
Birmingham’s current form is not very impressive either with 2 wins and 3 draws from the last 12 games so hopefully Reading can continue to heap the pressure on the Blues rather than start giving their attempt to avoid relegation a boost, especially given it has been reported in the media today that Aitor Karanka was sacked after the Bristol City game and that a replacement will be appointed before Wednesday (Chris Wilder perhaps?).
Scott Hogan is their strike threat having bagged 6 league goals so far, after him is Jeremy Bela and defender Marc Roberts with 3 goals each plus there’s Lucas Jutkiewicz to watch out for if things aren’t going well for messers Hogan and Bela on the night.
Jonathan Leko is fit but had been sidelined by the Karanka and confined to one sub appearance in 2 months so who knows what new bloke will do. Reading will continue to be without former Brum defender Michael Morrison as well as John Swift and Felipe Araruna but Yakou Meite will hopefully be back in contention for a first start in a while.
Referee
Andy Woolmer
Previously...
13 Feb 21 > Reading 1-2 Millwall
14 Jul 20 > Reading 1-2 Middlesbrough
15 Feb 20 > Sheffield Wednesday 0-3 Reading
09 Nov 19 > Reading 3-0 Luton Town
01 Oct 19 > Reading 1-4 Fulham
19 Jan 19 > Derby County 2-0 Reading
18 Oct 16 > Reading 1-2 Aston Villa
27 Aug 16 > Cardiff City 0-1 Reading
23 Aug 14 > Nottingham Forest 4-0 Reading
08 Apr 14 > Bournemouth 3-1 Reading
29 Oct 11 > Crystal Palace 0-0 Reading
12 Apr 11 > Scunthorpe United 0-2 Reading
15 Apr 10 > Reading 3-0 Coventry City
16 Sep 08 > Reading 6-0 Sheffield Wednesday
17 Sep 05 > Reading 1-0 Crewe Alexandra
Historically
It took Reading until 1986 before they managed a league game with Birmingham and of the first nine league games played between the sides, seven ended in draws. To me it just seems that the fixture has subsequently struggled with an air of dour tedium ever since.
That said Reading do seem to do slightly better against the Blues in their own back yard as opposed to playing in Reading as the Biscuitmen have recorded 7 wins which is the same as Birmingham themselves.
Usually there are goals in this game and a clean sheet for either side is a bit unlikely so who would bet against a 0-0?
How to follow the game
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