Stoke City vs Reading
6th February 1500hrs
Football – England – EFL Championship
Pick Draw & BTTS
Bookmaker Unibet
Odds: 7/2 odds taken 1510 GMT, Friday 5 February
Michael O’Neill’s Stoke City and Veljko Paunovic’s Reading do battle at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The home side will be looking for their first win of 2021, while the Royals head to the Potteries having won four and drawn two of their last six in the EFL Championship. Despite their poor form, the Potters are the slight favourites with the bookies. Who will come out on top at the bet365? Check out our betting preview.
Table of Contents
Stoke City Preview – Can the Potters pick up a much-needed three points?
Michael O’Neill’s Stoke City made a solid enough start to their season, but the Potters have picked up just one win in their last 13 league and cup games. In the Championship, since a 1-0 home victory over Blackburn Rovers a week before Christmas, Stoke have drawn five and lost two of the following seven.
City have slipped down to tenth after recent results, four points away from the play-offs. Stoke have not lost many (seven), but only Millwall have drawn more (14) than O’Neill’s troops (11) up until now. Overall, Stoke have picked up 38 points from 27 league games, netting 32 goals and shipping 29 times in the process.
After a retched run of results, Stoke would love to get their promotion bid back on track with a vital victory on home turf this weekend. City are the favourites, with the bookies pricing the home win at 6/4.
Reading Preview – Royals to extend unbeaten run to seven?
Reading are a team in good shape at present, with Veljko Paunovic’s men riding high in fourth place with an impressive 47 points to their name. To be fair, the Royals have done an excellent job in keeping themselves in the play-off picture with over half of the season now gone.
Since back-to-back defeats to high-flying Norwich City and Brentford, who are the current top two in the division, Reading have won four and drawn two of their following six in the Championship. Over the past six weeks or so, the Berkshire club have beaten the likes of Luton Town, Huddersfield Town, Coventry City and Bournemouth.
Don’t miss out on other Betting Tips & Predictions
Click here for more Betting Tips
Reading are flying high, and Paunovic’s side will want to keep up their good momentum with three points on the road this weekend. The away win is available at 2/1.
Stoke City vs Reading Betting Advice
Stoke were very impressive when these two teams went head-to-head at the Madejski Stadium back in November. First-half goals by Tyrese Campbell and Steven Fletcher and an injury-time effort from Jacob Brown gave City a comfortable 3-0 away win.
Key Facts – Stoke City vs Reading Betting Tip
- Six of the last eight Stoke vs Reading meetings have ended in draws
- Seven of the Potters’ last nine league matches have finished all square
- Reading are unbeaten in six in the Championship, winning four and drawing two
As we mentioned, only Millwall have picked up more draws than Stoke in this season’s Championship. With the Royals on a six-game unbeaten run, a point would not be a disastrous result for the away team. You can get the draw and both teams to score at 7/2.
Stoke have conceded the opening goal in their last two, while the Royals have scored first in two of their last three. Back Reading to net the first goal at the bet365 on Saturday at 5/4.
The best betting odds for Stoke City vs Reading
Stoke City to win: 6/4 at Bet365
Draw: 21/10 at Bet365
Reading to win: 2/1 at Bet365
