After a goalless stalemate against Newcastle United at the Madejski Stadium on Wednesday, Jaap Stam is scheduled to take his troops to the backyard of Preston North End this weekend. The Royals are right in the scheme of things as far as the playoff spots are concerned, collecting 64 points from 36 outings in the second tier of English football.
However, with the seventh-placed side in the shape of Fulham trying to penetrate into the top six, any sort of complacency from Stam’s side would cost them dearly in their pursuit of acquiring the penultimate ticket to the Premier League and thus, the fixture against Preston holds paramount importance.
PREDICTED READING LINE-UP VS PRESTON NORTH END (4-4-2)
Defence
Ali Al-Habsi bagged another clean sheet against the league leaders, Newcastle United, and is expected to stand between the sticks at Deepdale on Saturday. The 35-year-old has made 96 saves this season in 33 appearances and in the process, he has also collected 11 clean sheets, thus playing a crucial part in Royals’ resurrection from the doldrums of last season. Ahead of him, we expect a four-man defensive wall, comprising of Chris Gunter, Paul McShane, Liam Moore and Tyler Blackett.
McShane and Moore have coordinated pretty well among themselves and have tightened Stam’s defensive structure in a shrewd manner. To cultivate a strong and assuring display from the left-back slot, Blackett’s industry would be handy against the Lilywhites whereas, on the right, Gunter would be handed the duty of offering much more than just confining himself in his own half this time around.
Midfield
We do anticipate Stam to start the proceedings with a 4-4-2 formation, and to sync the attacking and defending endeavours of the side, we expect the midfield pairing of Jordan Mutch and Joey van den Berg to start from the middle.
Both of them were stupendous in combating Newcastle United’s attackers and were adept enough to venture forward as well. On the right wing, Gareth McLeary is seemingly likely to start whereas on the left, Roy Beerens should be given the nod.
Attack
Despite being fruitless against the Magpies, Stam is seemingly likely to go on with Lewis Grabban and Yann Kermorgant. Reading do have the requisite flamboyance in their attacking arsenal and in their outing against Preston North End, they would be wanting their attackers to hit the ground up and running from the kick-off and put Preston on the back foot.
Predicted Line-Up:
