Big Match Breakdown: Reading v Derby

Friday night football at the Madejski

The Championship season kicks off tonight with a very tasty clash as Reading host Derby County.

New Derby boss Frank Lampard makes his managerial bow at the Madejski Stadium. Paul Clement will be hoping his current side beat his former employers to build some early momentum after a difficult campaign last year.

You can catch the action live on Sky Sports Football from 8:00pm. And the Coral News Team have all the pre-match info ahead of the curtain-raiser…

Head-to-Head

These two sides have met each other 12 times over the last five seasons.

There hasn’t been much to split them during that period – Reading have won four times, Derby have also won four times and there have been four draws.

There have been six away wins though, with the home side winning just two of those twelve games.

The last three meetings have all produced Over 4.5 Goals too.

Likely XIs

New signings Sam Baldock, Andy Yiadom and David Meyler should make their debut for the hosts here.

Liam Moore is set to miss out after handing a transfer request in.

Derby are likely to field a new-look attack, with Jack Marriot, Harry Wilson, Mason Mount and Florian Jozefzoon all in line for debuts.

Ikechi Anya is an injury doubt in defence. Chris Martin and Matej Vydra may not be fit enough to feature for the visitors either.

Key Battles

There’s a lack of quality on the ball in the Reading midfield. They’ll want to put pressure on Derby to stop their passing game from flowing.

Lampard is trying to set the Rams up with a modern, attacking approach. Pre-season results have been encouraging and if they’re given space, they could have too much for the home side.

Reading’s central defensive duo of Paul McShane and John O’Shea could be undone by clever movement. The Irishmen are vastly experienced but lack mobility.

Match Odds

Derby are 6/5 favourites, with Reading 13/5 outsiders. The draw is priced at 9/4.

Recent history suggests there could be goals here. It’s 10/11 for Both Teams to Score and you can get 8/1 for these two sides to produce Over 4.5 Goals for the fourth game in a row.

In the goalscorer markets, Vydra leads the way as a 15/8 Anytime scorer if he’s fit enough to feature.

Jack Marriot is 11/2 to mark his Derby debut with the opening goal, or 21/10 to score at any point.

Sam Baldock is 23/10 to score for Reading, with fellow new arrival Mark McNulty slightly shorter at 21/10.

Big match previews, betting tips and transfer news – Coral has it all.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing