Bolton vs Reading Prediction: Don’t be swayed by Royals’ descent

Reading are looking for their first point of the League One season but may find it hard to come by at Bolton on Wednesday (18:00 BST, Sky Sports Football). The Royals are propping up the table after three rounds of action, though Bolton have had a mixed start with a win, a draw and a defeat from their opening trio of games.

Below are Steve Davies' Bolton vs Reading predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Defender Will Forrester could be included in a Bolton squad for the first time since April after a hamstring problem, though Kyle Dempsey, Victor Adeboyejo, Sam Dalby and Richard Taylor remain sidelined.

Defender Paudie O'Connor is still missing for Reading. Forward Paddy Lane could be available, though Andy Yiadom is still a week or two away. Experienced defender Derrick Williams could make his first start since signing from Atlanta United.

Bolton vs Reading Odds

Reading's wretched start to the season means they have been priced up as massive 9/2 shots at a ground where they have lost 5-2 on each of their previous two visits.

Bolton are 8/13 while a third successive 5-2 correct score in this fixture is an 80/1 chance.

Draw or Reading Double Chance @ 5/4

These are concerning times at the Madejski Stadium with Reading bottom of League One after three rounds, though it's surely too early to panic.

And if it's too early for panic, then it may well be too early to be considering them massively-priced outsiders for a trip to mid-table Bolton.

Granted, this is not a fixture that Reading have fond memories of - they have lost 5-2 on each of their last two visits. Three straight defeats at the hands of Lincoln, Huddersfield and AFC Wimbledon are not much to get excited about.

But Noel Hunt's men, 2-1 winners at Portsmouth in the EFL Cup last midweek, did a lot right against the Dons without getting much in the way of luck and he will set his side up to be hard to beat at Bolton.

And it isn't as though the Trotters are flying. They have had a really tough opening trio of games - against Stockport, Plymouth and Barnsley - so a four-point return isn't the worst.

But against Barnsley at the weekend, they had a man advantage for almost the entire second half and could only trek home with a 1-1 point to their name.

Over 11.5 Corners @ 6/4

Twelve corners or more might seem like a tall order, but the stats suggest it's a far from fanciful proposition.

Stockport and Bolton racked up 16 corners (seven for the Trotters) in their first game of the campaign and Bolton had another eight at home to Plymouth. The match yielded 11.

There were 12 corners in Reading's opener at Lincoln and again against Portsmouth in the EFL Cup, either side of a 14-corner haul at home to Huddersfield.

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