Eng. Championship
2021-10-16 - Reading vs Barnsley
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Saturday 16th October 2021 - Kick Off 3pm
Reading
A slow start to the 2021/22 season following a poor ending to the last campaign will have put Veljko Paunovic under some pressure at Reading, but his team are still fully behind the manager. That is all you can say after a strong run in September has seen Reading move up the League standings and once again have fans believing the squad could be potentially good enough to challenge for promotion.
They fell short of that last season and missed out on the Play Offs, but Reading are now up to 10th in the Championship table and they are just 2 points off the top six places. The Royals have a 3-1-1 record at home in the League and they have scored 11 goals and conceded 8 in those games.
Reading have lost 1 of their last 6 League games, but most impressive is the fact they have won 4 of their last 5 going into the October international break. They blew a 3-1 lead against Queens Park Rangers in a 3-3 draw, but Reading have won consecutive home games since then.
Barnsley
It was a massive overachievement under Valerien Ismael that took Barnsley to the Play Offs last season and it was always going to be a tough task for Markus Schopp to match that. The next month between the October and November international break could be key for the manager if he is going to stay in the top job at Barnsley after a slow start to this campaign.
His team are 22nd in the Championship table and Barnsley have produced 8 points so far this season. The side have a 0-3-2 record away from home where Barnsley have scored 4 goals and conceded 8, while Barnsley are the joint-lowest scorers in the Championship with 7 total goals.
Barnsley have failed to win any of their last 9 games and they have lost their last 3 League games to put the manager under some pressure. They have lost 2 of their last 3 away League games without scoring, but in between those defeats, Barnsley did salvage a 1-1 draw with Stoke City.
Head to Head
Reading took 4 points from Barnsley in the League last season and the majority were earned in a 2-0 win over them here.
The Royals are now unbeaten in 4 at home against Barnsley and have won 3 in a row against them.
Prediction
The underlying numbers suggest it will be difficult for Reading to maintain their current good form without an improvement overall.
However, the confidence should be in a good place for the entire squad. That should give Reading a chance to expose some of the vulnerabilities that Barnsley have displayed in defensive areas and being at home should be very important to the outcome of this fixture.
I do think Barnsley have shown enough to suggest they can turn their own poor form around, but I am hoping we don't see that this weekend.
Backing Reading to win on the Asian Handicap looks the best play here as they look for a fourth victory in a row over Barnsley in this part of Berkshire. They have been stronger at home and better in the final third, while Reading have largely been a little more secure defensively at the Select Car Leasing Stadium than Reading have been on their travels.
That should be key for the home team against a Barnsley team that is lacking goals and the home team look worthy of backing with half the stake returned in the event of a draw.
The Pick :
Reading 1-0 Barnsley
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back Reading - 0.25 Asian Handicap at 1.88 with Bet365
