Manchester United vs Reading Predictions

• Manchester United have won their last ten home fixtures.
• Manchester United have won three of their last four domestic cup matches with clean sheets.
• Reading have lost 4-0 on three occasions this season.

A Royal humbling at the Theatre of Dreams

After recording a dominant 3-0 victory over Forest in the League Cup semi-final in midweek, Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United swiftly turn their attention to the small matter of an FA Cup fourth round clash against Championship strugglers, Reading.

United’s imposing Dutch manager has already stated that he will do everything in his power to bring a trophy to Old Trafford and end their six-year wait for silverware, so don’t expect the Red Devils to pull any punches here in terms of putting out a strong lineup against lesser opposition.

This fixture crops up pretty often in the FA Cup calendar, with United winning by multi-goal margins and without reply in FA Cup home games against the Royals in both 2019 (2-0) and 2017 (4-0). As such, we expect the gulf in class between the sides to be made clear, probably early on in the game.

Stick with the Red Devils to turn up the heat

After topping the Championship earlier in the season, Paul Ince’s Royals have slowly but surely slipped into the bottom-half, all but ending their slim hopes of promotion.

The visitors are also without an away goal in over three hours of play and head into this on the back of a 4-0 rout at the hands of Stoke, their third defeat by that scoreline this season.

We’re sticking with Manchester United to justify their favouritism here, although the 1/7 about the straight win simply doesn’t represent value. Consequently, we’re backing the hosts in the -2 handicap market along with a smaller stakes selection on a 4-0 correct score.