
‘Norwich the best team we've faced’ – Holden
Posted: Wednesday, January 20th 2021
Saturday, November 28th 2020
City are back on the road this weekend with a trip to Reading in the Sky Bet Championship (Saturday, November 28th, 12.30pm KO).
Unbeaten in their last four games (W3, D1), with three consecutive clean sheets thrown into the mix, Dean Holden’s men head along the M4 motorway in confident spirits.
In partnership with MansionBet, here’s a preview of what you can expect from the fixture.
The lunchtime fixture is live on Sky Sports with two teams battling for potential promotion following their respective strong starts.
With October’s dry patch out of the way, City would record three wins in a row before a goalless draw with Watford in midweek.
But Holden’s side were resilient against a Hornets team content with boasting possession, while lady luck avoided City in the second half when the Robins found more attacking avenues to put the visitors on the backfoot.
Antoine Semenyo went closest as the forward continued to impress not only his head coach but those supporters following via Robins TV, with the youngster named Man of the Match for the fourth consecutive game, as well as receiving the Sky Sports award. He will be hoping to have earned another start at Reading as will Zak Vyner, another player from the Academy to have cemented a regular first team spot.
As for the Royals, the Berkshire outfit are still clinging on to the early play-off spots but are hoping to recover their early form if they are to stay in and around it.
Both City and the Royals enjoyed perfect starts in the run up the first international break of the season, with Reading flying under new manager Veljko Paunović, who wouldn’t lose a league game until Halloween. That was a run of eight games unbeaten (seven wins, one draw) to propel them to the top of the Championship.
However, Saturday’s opponents are without a win in their last five games, which included a stretch of four defeats in a row. Danger-man Luas João did grab his eighth league goal of the season (he is the Championship's third top goalscorer) to help Reading earn a point last time out against Millwall to stop that losing run.
Still, Reading entered the weekend sixth, four points behind leaders Norwich and one behind City – thanks to their strong start. The question on people’s lips now is have Paunović’s side run out of gas too early? That’s the worry many fans will be pondering after conceding 14 goals in their last 5 games. They had conceded just three goals in their first eight matches prior.
There are certainly similarities after good starts and both clubs have suffered dips, yet form-wise the teams are very different. Both still sit in similar positions in the table, but after City recorded 1-0 wins home and away over Reading last season, a similar result this time would be welcomed.
Where: Madejski Stadium
When: Saturday, November 28th, 12.30pm KO
Competition: Sky Bet Championship
Referee: Jeremy Simpson
Assistants: Edward Smart and Rob Smith
Fourth official: Antony Coggins
Reading 0-1 Bristol City
Madejski Stadium
Tuesday, January 28th 2020
Sky Bet Championship
Jamie Paterson struck his second City goal of the season having returned from loan at Derby, firing the Robins to a 1-0 victory over Reading and record a third consecutive win in the Sky Bet Championship.
The attacking midfielder was well placed to meet Niclas Eliasson’s cross – the winger's 11th assist of 2019/20 at the time – burying the ball past Rafael Cabral in the second half.
It had been a match of mostly half-chances but the hosts threatened with some late pressure, only the woodwork and exceptional City defending thwarted the flurry of attacks from Mark Bowen’s side.
Yet City, who fielded an unchanged XI, held on to record the win which lifted them to sixth in the Championship.
Reading v Bristol City
Played: 98
City won: 39 (40%)
Drew: 20
City lost: 39
Bristol City goals: 22
Reading goals: 23
Bristol City top goalscorers: Paterson (4)
Reading top goalscorers: Lucas João (4)
Bristol City most assists: Antoine Semenyo (6)
Reading most assists: Michael Olise (4)
Bristol City clean sheets: 7
Reading clean sheets: 6
League positions (correct ahead of Friday fixtures)
Bristol City: 3rd
Reading: 6th
*All competitions unless stated
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