Swansea City welcome Reading to the Liberty Stadium on Saturday afternoon as they look to extend their excellent start to the season.
The Royals visit South Wales on the back of three successive defeats in the Championship and currently lie in 20th place in the table.
Reading’s away form has been one of their main issues over this season and last season, as they have failed to win 21 out of their last 23 away games.
Swansea head into the weekend in 2nd position just behind Leeds on goal difference (also known as joint top when you’re the team in 2nd place), following their goalless draw at Bristol City last weekend.
Steve Cooper has done a fantastic job building on the work of former manager Graham Potter, and the Swans have suffered just one defeat in their last fourteen games – impressive stuff for a manager undertaking his first senior management job.
Swansea City v Reading Head to Head Stats
The overall head to head record between the two sides at Vetch Field and Liberty Stadium is as follows:
P40 W20 D7 L13
Swans Goals: 65
Royals Goals: 49
Take a look at all of the historical results between the two clubs since their first meeting way back in 1921 at the Vetch Field, when the Swans beat the Royals 2-1 in Division 3 (South), on our Swansea City v Reading Head to Head Statistics page.
The last time the sides met at the Liberty Stadium was in October last year, when an Oli McBurnie brace meant former Swans manager Paul Clement had an unhappy return to south Wales as the Swans ran out comfortable 2 nil winners.
Swansea City v Reading Match Referee
Hampshire official Keith Stroud will be the referee for this Championship fixture.
This will be first that Stroud has officiated either team this season, having only been the referee for three EFL Championship games to date.
During those three games, he has issued 7 yellow cards and awarded 1 penalty.
Historically, Stroud has the following record when officiating Swansea games at the Liberty Stadium – P7 W3 D2 L2.
Swansea City v Reading Match Predictions
I would fancy Swansea to win the game on Saturday at odds of 10/11 (1.91) with BetFred and BlackType.
Reading have struggled against pressing teams this season – notably against Blackburn Rovers and Hull City.
Steve Cooper’s side play with a strategic press to win the ball back quickly from the opposition.
This means that is more than likely that Reading will again struggle to cope and, combined with their awful away form, makes Swansea a good bet to come out winners in the game.
With regard to a first goalscorer selection I would stick with Swansea’s top scorer, Borja Baston who is available at 4/1 (5.00) with Bet365.
Steve Cooper’s tactics differ from Graham Potter’s in that he doesn’t ask Borja Baston to carry out the same work rate as Potter did of Oli McBurnie. Instead Cooper has Baston stay as the target man and the focal point of Swansea’s attack.
Cooper also asks that his full backs push on in the final third and overlap the attacking midfielders.
This enables the Swans to then look to get crosses in the box or alternatively look for intricate passes into the same area, which Borja will thrive on over the season.
Borja Baston has five goals this season and averages at present 123 minutes per goal for the Swans thus far.
However, Borja’s minutes per goal ratio is even better when just looking at Swansea’s Championship games at the Liberty Stadium, where he averages a goal every 84 minutes.
This, together with Borja taking over penalty duties for the Swans, makes him the stand out first goal scorer selection for this weekend!
Punters looking for slightly longer odds in the goalscorer markets, might also consider the attacking positions that Steve Cooper asks of his full backs and back Connor Roberts at 13/1 (14.0) to score at any time with Paddy Power.
Lastly, like a lot of punters on the weekend I like to do an accumulator bet and my selections for this week would be Liverpool, Tottenham, Swansea, Ipswich and Portsmouth. The five fold pays 6.91/1 (7.91) with MarathonBet.
Many thanks to Swans season ticket holder @jonmainy for his match preview and betting tips, which are summarised below for those of you who like a flutter on the Swans.
Swansea City v Reading Bet Recommendations
- Swansea to win at 10/11 (1.91) with BetFred and BlackType.
- First Goalscorer – Borja Baston at 4/1 (5.00) with Bet365.
- Anytime goalscorer – Connor Roberts at 13/1 (14.00) with Paddy Power.
- ACCA – Liverpool, Tottenham, Swansea, Ipswich, Tranmere at 6.91/1 (7.91) with MarathonBet.
All of the odds quoted on this page are correct at the time of writing. Our match predictions are fully researched and are provided to you in good faith, but please note that we cannot guarantee a profit on any bets you place and ask you to gamble responsibly.
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