Reading vs Crawley Prediction: Royals to bounce back

Reading welcome Crawley Town to the Select Car Leasing Stadium in League 1 on Saturday (15:00), looking to bounce back from their defeat to Rotherham United before the international break.

Crawley have lost seven of their last eight in the league as they continue to slide down the table. Read on for my Reading vs Crawley prediction, featuring match odds and team news.

Reading vs Crawley Odds

Reading are 7/10, or a 58.8% chance to win this match. Crawley are valued at 18/5 to take the three points, giving them an implied probability of 21.7%. The draw is marketed at 3/1 (25%).

Both teams to score is available at 4/7 and over 2.5 goals can be backed at the same odds.

Crawley's Junior Quitirna has scored four goals in League 1 this term and he is 4/1 to score anytime on Saturday.

Reading striker Sam Smith has three for himself and he is priced at 5/1 to open proceedings, or 6/4 to find the back of the net at any stage during this contest.

Football Odds

Team News

Reading are without the services of goalkeeper Joel Pereira and defender Andy Yiadom, who remain sidelined due to injury.

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan is also unavailable for selection after picking up two yellow cards in the defeat to Rotherham United last time out, which will give Ruben Selles a big decision to make in the attacking third.

Crawley remain without skipper Dion Conroy, who is yet to make a first-team appearance for the club this season. Defender Josh Flint is unavailable after picking up a straight red card in the defeat to Shrewsbury Town last week.

Joy Mukena was included in the squad last week despite picking up a knock against Wycombe Wanderers in the previous league match. He came off the bench in the second half, so he could be in contention for a starting spot this weekend.

Gavan Holohan made his first league appearance of the season from the bench against the Shrews, and seeing as results continue to spiral, boss Rob Elliot could be tempted to hand him his first start at Reading. He could also promote fellow midfielder Panutche Camara from the bench, who once upon a time was deemed one of the best operators in the division with Plymouth Argyle.

Elliot will be relying on goals from top scorer Quitirna and striker Will Swan for the foreseeable as he tinkers to crack a winning formula with the Red Devils.

Reading to win to nil @ 11/5

Crawley are in woeful form at the moment, losing seven of their last eight matches in League 1. They managed to pick up a few good results at the beginning of term under former boss Scott Lindsay.

He was dealt a tough hand with key players leaving, so it was no surprise to see him lured to MK Dons, where he'd have more resources at his disposal. Most people would have pegged Crawley to finish bottom of the table come May and on current form, it looks like it will be a real possibility.

Losing a huge six-pointer against Shrewsbury last week has not given me any confidence that they can defeat Reading away from home. The Royals have been going through an inconsistent spell, but what do you expect from a club who are in a situation as tragic as theirs, with limited resources of their own.

Selles is their greatest asset, and he has been able to get some excellent results during difficult circumstances. Luckily for him and his players, this should be one of the more easier fixtures they can get right now.

Before losing to Rotherham, the Royals had won two on the bounce and both of them were on home soil, so I'm backing them to get back to winning ways here. I've gone for them to win to nil because Crawley have failed to score in three of their last four defeats.

Reading -1 handicap @ 9/5

Due to the visitors' poor run of form, I also think it is worth backing Reading to win with a 1- handicap. This has been a winning selection for teams facing the Red Devils in four of the last seven matches, and I believe Reading have the quality to rack up a couple of goals against the struggling side.

The Royals have shown that they can be a force on home soil as they have won four of their five matches here this season in the third tier. Three of them saw them win by a two-goal margin, which makes me think that this market offers good value to land on Saturday at 9/5.

Offers

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down.

You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.