Reading v QPR: R’s to prosper as strugglers collide
Published:Relegation for both is imminent and, while they are no real winners in this basement battle, QPR will get the job done at the Madejski.
Both home and away teams are chalked up at 8/5 shots, giving a fair indication of how difficult the Premier League’s two worst teams are to separate, though it is the away team who have the edge.
Reading picked up the nasty habit of losing every week long before Nigel Adkins was tasked with keeping them in the division, while QPR under Harry Redknapp, for all their difficulties of putting points on the board, have demonstrated a strong spirit in certain games, most notably Wigan at home a few weeks back, and have much more in their locker than the Royals.
The hosts have not savoured the taste of victory in 10 games in all competitions, not since Jimmy Kebe’s brace sank Sunderland in Berkshire. Of that run, they’ve only mustered six goals, so backing them to register fewer than 0.5 in this one at 5/2 must hold a little bit of appeal, especially when you consider that QPR have stopped Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea from finding the back of the net this term.
On this dry spell, the only player to put the ball in the back of the net for Reading is Aston Villa’s, Nathan Baker. This makes the 11/10 available for there to be more goals chalked up after the interval than before it a fairly safe bet, seeing as the R’s are hardly prolific themselves, managing only two more first half goals than their soon-to-be Championship rivals in their previous six outings.
The best looking price of the bunch, however, has to be an away win with the total goals scored failing to cross the 2.5 barrier. It pays out at a handsome 5/1 and, in the combined last six games of these sides, only once have more than 2.5 strikes been witnessed by the spectators.
All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date
