Our prediction for this League 1 match:
Reading
Match Time & Date:
27/04/2024
13:30
Prediction: 1-2
Blackpool
Saturday’s football game at Select Car Leasing Stadium pits together Reading and Blackpool, the two teams who sit in the opposite halves of the table. The Royals did well to secure the League One survival, while the Seasiders are hoping for a spot in the playoffs. As Reading have nothing to play for in Saturday’s clash, Ruben Selles is expected to shuffle his pack this time out.
Blackpool, on the other hand, are on a four-game winning run in the English second tier and seeing that they face a must-win situation against Reading, away triumph should be considered. Barring any fresh injury concerns, Neil Critchley is unlikely to make changes to the team that defeated Barnsley 3-2 at the weekend. In the first half of the season Blackpool outplayed Reading 4-1 at Bloomfield Road, which goes in favour of our earlier prediction.
Highlighted Player (Chris Maxwell):
Chris Maxwell is a Welsh goalkeeper who was born in St Asaph on July 30, 1990. Maxwell began his youth career at Penrhyn Bay (1998-2000) and in 2000 he moved to Wrexham. The 188-cm-tall shoot-stopper made his first-team debut for Wrexham at the age of 18 and he played 76 league games for the club from 2008 to 2012.
During the 2008/2009 season he spent six months on loan at Welsh club Connah’s Quay Nomads and in 2012 he joined Fleetwood Town. Chris Maxwell made 110 appearances in the league for the Trawlermen and on May 16, 2016 he signed a three-year deal with Championship side Preston North End. You should know that he managed to keep clean sheets in 38 appearances for the Lilywhites in the 2016/2017 Championship campaign.
Due to his dual citizenship, Maxwell is capable of representing both Wales and Scotland at senior level, but he played for the Dragons at youth level, being capped for the U21 team 16 times.
Highlighted Team (Reading):
Reading FC is a professional football club that play in the Championship. The club was formed in 1871 and Madejski Stadium has been the home of Reading since 1998. The Royals used to play their home games at Elm Park in the past (1896 - 1998). Reading made it to the FA Cup semi-finals on two occasions (1927, 2015), but they have yet to win the prestigious trophy.
The likes of Robin Friday, Trevor Senior, Steve Death, Shaka Hislop, Phil Parkinson, Alf Messer, Jimmy Quinn, Michael Gilkes, Ronnie Blackman, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Martin Hicks are some of their more notable footballers. Aldershot Town were considered Reading’s fiercest rivals, but the Shots went out of business in 1992.
Seeing that Aldershot rejoined the league in 2008 it remains to be seen if the rivalry is going to be re-established in near future. Swindon Town and Oxford United are considered Reading’s big rivals as well.
