Reading vs Rotherham Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

There is a school of thought that suggests there are no easy games in the Championship and that anybody can beat anybody on any given day. Rotherham have been doing their best to disprove that theory this season though with an abysmal away record of just 1 point from 21 games on the road. It’s virtually impossible to see promotion chasing Reading slipping up here.

The Royals picked up a massive win on Friday by winning 3-1 at Villa Park, less than a week after they’d slipped to a humiliating 7-1 defeat at Norwich. It was the perfect response from Jaap Stam’s men. It not only puts them in a very strong position to secure a play-off place but immediately banished that memory and should allow them to recover some momentum going into the play-offs.

French striker Joseph Mendes, making his first start of the season, was the hero with a brace. There’s a good chance he’ll be retained here as it has been a bit of a problem position for Reading this term and against such a poor defence, backing Mendes to score anytime at 2/1 looks to offer fantastic value.

It should also be pointed out that Reading had won 3 games on the spin prior to that heavy defeat at Carrow Road so their overall form is good and they’ve an excellent 67% home win ratio this term. Given Rotherham have lost 96% of their away games, this should be an absolute home banker and the only question really is likely to be the margin of Reading’s win. Given Rotherham have conceded 2.90 goals per game away this term, it could be pretty convincing. Their overall defensive record is also by far the worst in the league and with 94 goals conceded they look certain to be in triple figures by the end of the campaign.

Rotherham may have got a point against Birmingham last time out but it’s still 14 defeats from their last 16 in the Championship. They’ve conceded 18 goals in their last 5 away games alone and also have the worst goal-scoring record in the league, with 0.76 per game on average. Therefore, backing Reading -1 Goal Handicap at 21/20 looks to offer value.