Chelsea V Reading
Mixed fortunes for the two clubs who come together midweek because of Chelsea’s involvement in the European Super Cup. The Blues opened their account with a 2-0 away win over Wigan, negotiating a tricky opener successfully, while Reading needed a late penalty to earn themselves a point against Stoke City at home.
Chelsea v Reading Betting Odds at online bookmaker Boylesports:
Chelsea 1/4, Draw 9/2, Reading 11/1
Verdict:
The Blues are firm favourites here, especially at home. They didn’t open with a flourish and bang, not in the big attacking style than many had expected them to come out with. However, Roberto Di Mateo’s men got three important points on the board and now have a great chance to follow that up. It is all about confidence and momentum out of the blocks and this should be a comfortable enough ride for Chelsea. They will surely have the extra touch of class and fire-power to see off the newly promoted Reading, who didn’t cause too many threats up front against Stoke on the weekend. Should be worth a conservative price of 8/13 with online bookmaker Boylesports for a Chelsea/Chelsea Half Time/Full Time bet.
Stat Attack:
Chelsea are unbeaten in their last six meetings against Reading, in all competitions.
In their history, Reading have only managed to pick up seven away wins from 38 attempts in the EPL
In four EPL meetings between the two sides, there have been three red cards
Chelsea have lost just one of their last nine Premier League home matches
Head to Head:
In the last four head to heads between the two sides at Chelsea, the Blues have won three and drawn one. However, it is worth noting for your betting that all three wins did come by a single goal margin, which suggests that this could be close. Another thing as to why this could be close is that Chelsea only managed six shots against Wigan, their lowest tally in an EPL match since 2007. Which suggests that they still have some way to go to be a strong attacking force. Chelsea have never lost at home against Reading in six meetings.
Online bookmaker promotion:
Online bookmaker Boylesports are offering a 1st Goal Assist Cashback promotion for your Chelsea v Reading betting. Back a player in the First Goalscorer market, if that player doesn’t net the first goal of the game, but he assists on that first goal, then Boylesports will refund your losing first goalscorer stake. So a good bit of coverage to be looking at to take and in the First Goalscorer market, Fernando Torres is trading at 3/1, Daniel Sturridge at 9/2 and Eden Hazard at 6/1. With Hazard being the leading assist leader in La Ligue last season and already picking up an assist and having earned his side a penalty, the little Belgian may be worth a shot with this coverage. Online bookmaker Boylesports offer a free £20 bet for new customers registering an account with them.
Chelsea v Reading Betting Preview:
Thanks to two strikes inside the first ten minutes of their season opener against Wigan, Chelsea walked away with three points. However, they were second best at times in possession and in attempts on goal. So it wasn’t all plain sailing, although Wigan, to be fair, didn’t create a lot and Chelsea’s centre half duo of John Terry and David Luiz looked pretty solid. The Blues may get back midfielder Ramires who missed the opener because of an illness. The brightest point about Chelsea’s opening match was the contribution of Eden Hazard. He won himself the Man of the Match with a great performance and was the stand out payer in the game. The Blues still look like a work in progress and there will have to be more integration of new players, like Oscar and Marko Marin (when he’s fit again). People are looking for Chelsea to win with style and flair, they are under orders from owner Roman Abramovich, we didn’t see that against Wigan, and while they were largely comfortable, there should be more gears for them to go through.
On their return to the Premier League, Reading needed a penalty (and a blatant one at that) to rescue a point against Stoke. Given Stoke’s lack of punch in front of goal, many had expected Reading, at home, to get things under-way with a win. The Royals were a good attacking side in the Championship last season, but they were open at the back. It looked as if they had tried to rein that in a bit, and they didn’t look all that composed or threatening going forward against an average side. Reading found away wins hard to come by the last time they were in the top flight, winning just two and haven’t won any of their last nine EPL matches in London. The Royals don’t look a bad side, they look as if they could potentially grow in to the season and they will cause sides problems. The amount of chances they are gong to get at Stamford Bridge should be limited and this will be a tough step up for them.
