Reading V Arsenal
Tuesday, 30 October 2012 – Kick-Off: 19:45 GMT
Live on Sky Sports HD1
The Madejski Stadium was the setting of a six-goal thriller at the weekend. On Tuesday it will host the only Capital One Cup tie involving two Premiership sides as an out of sorts Arsenal pay an improving Reading a visit, for a match shown live on Sky Sports HD1.
Now, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has already gone on record and stated that this very competition matters the least of all to him, which makes the odds-on quotes that his side will come through their tricky Fourth Round encounter unscathed all the more unappealing. Then there is their recent lacklustre displays, which has seen them look suspect at the back and toothless in attack; a run of successive to-nil defeats, first away to Norwich (0-1) in the league before losing at home to Schalke (0-2) in Europe, was only brought to an end courtesy of a fortuitous 1-0 victory over QPR at the weekend.
As for Reading, things are starting to look up. Yes wins are still proving elusive in the Premier League, with The Royals still without a win nine games into the season, but some of their recent performances have certainly merited one or two. In fact, their form still looks reasonable; Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Fulham, in which they came from 3-2 down to earn a deserved point after levelling in stoppage time, meant it is now one defeat in their last five in all competitions. That solitary reverse coming at Anfield away to Liverpool, in which they gave as good as they got in a narrow 1-0 loss.
If anything, Reading left the Madejski ruing a missed opportunity, as while they levelled the score at 3-3 in stoppage time, they came oh so close to a winner right at the death as they piled on the pressure. Hopefully Brian McDermott’s team can carry that momentum into Tuesday’s game, against what is likely to be a much-changed Arsenal side, as they are a huge price to comply, at a ground where they’ve been beaten just once in their last 15 (W9 D5 L1) – albeit a lot of those were in the Championship last season, while that one reverse was to Arsenal’s north-London rivals Tottenham. It’s an impressive patch of home form nonetheless.
An ample-sized squad is the main reason for Arsenal’s thin odds, as Wenger was able to rotate in the previous round and still win handsomely. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Andrei Arshavin and Olivier Giroud were amongst the goals as the Gunners fired six past League One Coventry at the Emirates. Reading away will be a different proposition entirely, and while I wouldn’t rule out as many goals – Reading’s last five home games have produced 5,4,4,5 and 6 goals – the contest itself should be much more competitive, with Royals boss Brian McDermott set to name another strong side, similar to the ones which prevailed in typically high-scoring affairs with Peterborough (3-2) and QPR (2-3) earlier in the tournament.
