NEWCASTLE UNITED v READING
Wednesday 17th August 2016 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Football – England – Championship Betting Tips
We’re only two league matches into the new Championship season, but already the pressure is beginning to pile up on Newcastle United and manager Rafa Benitez following back-to-back defeats in the English second tier.
Losses to Fulham 1-0 away on the opening day of the season and an unforgivable 2-1 home defeat to Huddersfield Town means that the Magpies head into tonight’s match against Reading in a ‘must-win’ encounter as three defeats on the trot would be unthinkable, even at this early stage of the season.
But it’s not expected to be a walk in the park against Reading tonight as Newcastle’s last clash against The Royals ended in a 2-1 defeat in the Premier League back in 2013. But the home side do possess some dangerous forwards in the shape of Gayle, Armstrong and Perez who’ll be looking to make a nuisance of themselves at St James’ Park tonight.
Visitors Reading opened their account in the Championship on the first day of the season with a 1-0 home win over Preston North End which perhaps was an early relegation battle of things to come later in the campaign? The Royals then followed this up with a 2-0 home win over Plymouth Argyle in the League Cup a few days later.
But their weekend 2-0 defeat away at Wolves again signals their weakness on the road in the second tier as they’ve now lost four of their last five matches on their travels with losses incurred at Middlesbrough, Leeds United, Blackburn rovers and the aforementioned Wolves (a record which extends back into the latter stages of last season).
Overall though, Reading have registered just two away wins from their last 19 matches in the Championship, and so I’ll back the hosts here this evening who surely won’t get a better chance to get off the mark than this evening??
Pick: Newcastle United to win @ 1.73 William Hill
