Kick-off: 1715, 27/12/2022
Stadium: Madejski Stadium
TV: Sky Sports
There is plenty of evidence to suggest TV viewers will be treated to an entertaining encounter when Reading host Swansea in the Championship.
The Royals are coming off a 3-2 loss at Birmingham, while the Swans drew 3-3 at Coventry, plus it was 3-2 to City when these teams met in Wales in mid-October.
Last season’s league fixtures saw Reading win 3-2 on the road before a 4-4 draw.
We’re snapping up 17/20 for both teams to score as our first Reading vs Swansea prediction.
Reading Odds
Following back-to-back wins either side of the World Cup break, Reading did their best to stage a late fightback at St Andrew’s.
The Royals trailed 3-0 at half-time but pulled a couple back late on through Lucas Joao and Tom Ince.
Manager Paul Ince commented: “If someone said to me, you’re going to score two away, I’d expect to win it.
“But if you make schoolboy mistakes like we did, you’re always going to struggle to win games.
“To be fair, we won the second half 2-0 but it’s not good enough and I said to them after the game, you can’t keep on making mistakes, as you will get punished at any level.”
Reading have been much stronger at home this term, picking up 22 of their 32 points at Madejski Stadium.
In fact, only Burnley and Blackburn have won more times in front of their own fans.
Looking at the 10/3 for the hosts to prevail and over 2.5 goals in the game.
Swansea City Odds
Swansea edged above Reading on goal difference after they did manage to pull off a great escape at Coventry.
Jonathan Panzo, Jamie Allen and Viktor Gyokeres had put the Sky Blues in control before a 16-minute turnaround from Joel Piroe, Jay Fulton and Liam Cullen saw the Swans snatch a point.
“I’m battling how to feel about it really,” said head coach Russell Martin.
“I thought for half an hour we were incredible, brilliant, so I’m really grateful and proud for the last half an hour, but I’m really hurt for the first 60 minutes.
“The energy in the top third of the pitch, the willingness to run, to sacrifice yourself, the reaction to losing the ball, all the stuff we’ve worked on the last couple of weeks was nowhere near acceptable.
“The lack of physical contact, lack of aggression in transition, is why they came away with so many counter-attacks.
“I saw some stuff in the first half I did not like one bit. Passes that they know how I feel about them, it’s not helping your team-mate, not hurting the opposition. I don’t know where it came from.”
Swansea have gone seven games without a win, albeit drawing on five occasions, and they have conceded first in six of those fixtures – the other finishing 0-0.
All of those opening goals came in the first half, so 7/4 for the Royals to break the deadlock before the interval is added to our Reading vs Swansea betting tips.
Additional stats
Last result:
Birmingham 3-2 READING – Lucas Joao, Tom Ince
Coventry 3-3 SWANSEA – Joel Piroe, Jay Fulton, Liam Cullen
Head-to-head: Swansea 3-2 Reading, Reading 4-4 Swansea, Swansea 2-3 Reading, Reading 0-3 Swansea
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