Reading v Norwich: Keep Canaries onside at MadStad

Reading v Norwich
Wednesday December 16, 20:00
Sky Sports

Reading pinch points late on

Highly-rated starlet Michael Olise celebrated his 19th birthday with a spectacular winner to give Reading a late 1-0 win over QPR on Saturday. The last-gasp victory allowed the Royals to consolidate their position in the top-six, leaving Veljko Paunovic's charges within touching distance of the automatic promotion places in the Championship.

Reading were struggling to create openings but improved dramatically with the second-half introduction of Olise, who went close minutes after joining the action. And with the contest appearing destined to end goalless, the youngster struck a sweet left-footed shot home from distance, one of only two Royals efforts to hit the target in the tussle.

However, it wasn't all good news with the club's two top goalscorers Lucas Joao and Yakou Meite both sidelined for the rest of the year, while defender Omar Richards also faces a spell on the sidelines. The trio join John Swift, Andy Yiadom, Felipe Araruna and George Puscas on the treatment table ahead of Wednesday night's fixture.

Norwich maintain table-topping position

Teemu Pukki scored twice as Norwich maintained their impressive recent form and remained top of the Championship with a 2-1 victory at Blackburn on Saturday. The Finland international took his goal tally for the Canaries to 50 with one in each half, either side of Harvey Elliott's equaliser for Rovers at Ewood Park.

Pukki's first was a neat turn and shot from Alex Tettey's pass to find the bottom left corner and his second saw him cleverly divert Emi Buendia's shot from outside the penalty area past a hapless Thomas Kaminski. Earlier Blackburn had pushed Norwich hard, hitting the woodwork amongst 20 shots at goal that included a superb solo leveller from Elliott.

But Daniel Farke's troops showcased their league-leading quality to clinch top honours with the manager understandably pleased post-match, saying: "I'm pretty sure not many sides will come away from here with points, let alone three this season. It's a great win for us, a massive one, I'm pretty delighted and just full of massive compliments for the lads."

Canaries flying high

Norwich have enjoyed recent head-to-head supremacy against Reading, winning four of the most recent five league meetings (W4-D1-L0) between the two teams, including their last two trips to the Madjeski Stadium. The Canaries scored at least twice in all five of those fixtures, whilst Both Teams To Score has banked in 11 of 12 match-ups since 2010.

After making a record-breaking start to the season (W7-D1-L0), Reading's 3.2011/5 progress stalled as the Royals took a solitary point from a possible five (W0-D1-L4). Nevertheless, Veljko Paunovic's outfit have steadied the ship in recent weeks and come into this contest with one defeat in six (W3-D2-L1). The hosts have pocketed six wins from nine at home.

Norwich 2.3611/8 took time to find their range but since October's international break the Canaries have been flying despite enduring a significant injury crisis at times too. Daniel Farke's team have taken 33 points from a possible 42 (W10-D3-L1) to move three points clear at the summit heading into MD19. On the road, City have posted W6-D1-L2 this term.

Keep Norwich onside at the MadStad

As well as a strong pedigree for Both Teams To Score 1.705/7 landing in Reading vs Norwich showdowns over the past decade, the two teams have also proven strong operators in the final-third. Both the Royals and Canaries have managed to find the back of the net in 15 of their respective 18 Championship clashes in 2020/21, 19/36 (52%) of which saw BTTS.

However, with the hosts' missing a few key personnel in forward areas, I'll play things slightly safer on Wednesday night by dipping into the Same Game Multi to support Norwich Double Chance and Under 3.5 Goals at 1.834/5 quotes at the Madjeski Stadium. This selection has paid out in 12 of Norwich's 18 outings and 11 of their past 14 encounters.