When : Saturday 16th October 2021, 3pm
Where : Madejski Stadium, Reading, RG2 0FL
Capacity : 24,161
Saturday sees Barnsley roll into town ready to face a Reading side that might actually have a couple of players back from the various treatment/fitness tables that must currently litter Bearwood.
Barnsley have not had a good start and currently languish in the relegation battle having amassed just a solitary victory this season so far (against high flying Coventry). However they remain tough outfit to beat as they’ve racked up 5 draws from their fixtures so far incl. a decent point at QPR (though they were 2-0 up in that so it would suggest some defensive deficiencies are there to be exploited).
As ever Cauley Woodrow is the main threat with 3 goals so far, then Dominic Frieser has bagged a couple from midfield, after that it’s been a bit of a struggle for the Tykes to find the net but no doubt Reading will be able to present them with a few “helping hands” during the course of the 90 minutes.
There is actually some hope that Dann might be fit enough to start and also hope that both Rinomhota and Morrison might be in contention for at least a bench appearance. Of course, to counter this positive news, Moore appears to have had a reaction to his Cardiff return (that curtailed his trip to Jamaica) and Puscas was apparently absent from the last Romania squad despite playing (and doing reasonably well) for them against Germany. So who knows whether they will be available for Saturday.
But if Moore and Puscas are ok then we could be looking at just (I think) the 7 (SEVEN) crocks; Azeez, Holmes, Araruna, Joao, Meite, Tetek and Halilovic.
Referee
Andy “I have reffed Reading away, honest” Davies
Previously
20 Oct 20 > Reading 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers
07 Mar 20 > Birmingham City 1-3 Reading
08 Feb 20 > Reading 1-1 Hull City
18 Aug 19 > Reading 3-0 Cardiff City
09 Mar 19 > Reading 3-2 Wigan Athletic
26 Dec 18 > Millwall 1-0 Reading
02 Oct 18 > Reading 0-1 Queens Park Rangers
28 Feb 18 > Reading 1-3 Sheffield United
19 Sep 17 > Reading 0-2 Swansea City (LC)
07 Mar 17 > Reading 0-0 Newcastle United
26 Dec 16 > Reading 3-1 Norwich City
29 Oct 16 > Reading 2-0 Nottingham Forest
06 Aug 16 > Reading 1-0 Preston North End
15 Sep 15 > Reading 0-1 Derby County
Historically
Overall though this game is the Tykes' 37th league trip to Reading and they've only won 6 of the previous 36 games in total compared to Reading's 20 victories. Of the 10 league draws in Reading, a whopping 8 of them have finished 0-0.
But in recent times Barnsley have had an annoying habit of turning up, being dour, and going home with 3 points as 3 of those 6 Barnsley wins have been in the last 7 games played.
How to follow the game
- Get a ticket
- 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
- BBC Radio Berkshire (FM : 104.4, 104.1 or 95.4 depending where you are in the area)