When : Friday 16 December 2022, 8pm
Where : St Andrews, Birmingham, B9 4RL
Capacity : 30,016
Another Friday night game on the telly which does not bode well for Reading. It'll be the 39th main game on SKY that Reading have played since August 2017 and Reading have won just 8 of them. On top of that good luck nugget comes the fact that Reading have had 2 games switched to Friday night so far this season which has led to a whopping collection of 0 points - well at least it's consistent.
Birmingham at St Andrews though has been a happier place to go in search of league points down the years but given the above fairly consistent negative runs that's still going to make it a hard game esp. as Birmingham are not proving be the prime basket case club destined for relegation that many pundits thought they would be. Like Reading they've bucked that expectation so far and John Eustace is doing a very decent job actually and the bluenoses are actually getting some good results, if a little inconsistent.
Brum are in 14th place in the table, just behind Reading on 29 points from 22 games. Form is inconsistent as you'd probably expect for a team in 14th. They've had some good results though including wins at Preston and WBA so they are more than capable of producing a result from time to time so Reading need to be on their guard and well prepared for this. The last eight for Birmingham have seen them gather two wins and four draws so they're not the easiest team to beat. Home form isn't brilliant with two draws and a defeat from the last three but have got the better of QPR before that so really can't be sure what to expect on the night.
City have a reasonably decent squad with Leandro Bacuna’s brother (Juninho) proving to be a pretty decent midfielder so far. Poland's Krystian Bielik joined on loan from Derby in the summer as did Tunisia's Hannibal Mejbri (he of the hair, if you watched any Tunisia games at the World Cup) from Man Utd so Birmingham are going to have a very useful midfield. Up front the threat is really Scott Hogan who has bagged 9 so far and is amongst the leading scorers of the division, after him you have their equivalent of Andy Carroll in Troy Deeney and as per usual the perennial substitution threat of Lukas Jutkiewicz to create havoc in the last half hour or so of games. Finally Jude Bellingham's brother Jobe is starting to make his way into the Birmingham team, though he is normally used as a sub.
The blues will be without Harlee Dean, Gary Gardner and Poland international Przemyslaw Placheta due to injury and also have a doubt over main man Scott Hogan which may mean a rare start for Lukas Jutkiewicz on Friday. Reading haven't had any reactions as yet reported from the Coventry match and hopefully Sam Hutchinson will be able to be considered for the game along with Femi Azeez; Ovie Ejaria (?), Liam Moore (knees), Scott Dann (calf) and Tom Holmes (concussion) will miss the game through injury.
Referee
Tim “no Reading goals in the last 3” Robinson
Previously...
15 Oct 22 > Reading 0-2 West Bromwich Albion
23 Apr 22 > Hull City 3-0 Reading
19 Jan 22 > Reading 0-2 Luton Town
18 Sep 21 Reading 3-1 Peterborough United
06 Feb 21 > Stoke City 0-0 Reading
09 Dec 20 > Reading 1-2 Birmingham City
19 Sep 20 > Reading 2-0 Barnsley
18 Jul 20 > Blackburn Rovers 4-3 Reading
07 Dec 19 > Reading 2-3 Birmingham City
06 Apr 19 > Hull City 3-1 Reading
01 Jan 19 > Reading 1-4 Swansea City
19 Sep 18 > Reading 1-2 Norwich City
16 Jan 18 > Reading 3-0 Stevenage (FA Cup 3)
30 Sep 17 > Reading 1-2 Norwich City
29 Apr 17 > Reading 1-0 Wigan Athletic
01 Oct 16 > Reading 1-1 Derby County
02 Feb 16 > Ipswich Town 2-1 Reading
21 Sep 13 > Derby County 1-3 Reading
Historically
It took Reading until 1986 before they managed a game of any sort against Birmingham and of the first nine league games played between the sides, seven ended in draws. To me it just seems that the fixture has subsequently struggled with an air of dour tedium ever since.
Since 1986 the two teams have become fairly regular opponents in the league (this is the 21st season together) and have played each other in the three highest tiers in the league.
While Birmingham are starting to become a bit of the proverbial bogey team at the SCL (on the positive side, that's showing an improvement in Reading's overall league status as I remember when the bogey team used to be Bury!) Reading do seem to do slightly better against the Blues in their own back yard as the Biscuitmen have recorded 8 wins which is the same number that Birmingham themselves have managed.
Usually there are goals in this game and a clean sheet for either side is a bit unlikely so who would bet against the first ever 0-0 at St Andrews?
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket and go
- Listen to Radio 5 Live and/or a myriad of other radio stations for score flashes
- Ring/text a mate for updates
- Use a RoyalsTV subscription
- Sky
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM ; 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4, BBC iPlayer Radio (other radio apps are available ))
