Luton Town are looking for one giant leap towards the Championship playoffs this Wednesday when they head to the Select Car Leasing Stadium where Reading are suddenly fighting for their life after the sacking of Paul Ince.
It’s been another dreadful season for Reading so far in the second tier of England and the club are now sitting in the bottom three on just 42 points from 42 games.
Cody Drameh. 😮💨#COYH pic.twitter.com/xrI9pd8wfF— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) April 17, 2023
Cody Drameh. 😮💨#COYH pic.twitter.com/xrI9pd8wfF
Worse yet, Cardiff City just above them have a game in hand to work with as well, meaning the Royals could be three behind safety with just four games left.
Reading are four points above Blackpool in 23rd, but you have to go all the way back to February to witness their last win in the Championship.
In fact, that 2-1 victory over Rotherham is their only win in 2023 in the league and just their second since the World Cup break ended after also beating Coventry City 1-0.
Recently, the club have drawn more games than they have lost, as they lost 5-0 to Middlesbrough, 1-0 to Sheffield United, 1-0 to Millwall and 2-1 to Blackburn Rovers in March before drawing their next three games.
Last weekend, Reading drew 0-0 with Burnley, which was impressive in some ways given how they are top of the Championship table by quite a distance.
They did, however, lose 2-1 to Preston North End just before that in a game that saw 23 shots for Preston and a goal from Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan.
Luton won yet again last weekend by beating Rotherham 2-0 to carry on their unbeaten April after also defeating Blackpool 3-1, Watford 2-0 and drawing with Millwall.
The Hatters are now the highest they've ever been at this stage in a Championship season by sitting third.
At the same time, there are no games in hand for fifth-placed Boro who are three points behind them, and with a gap of 12 points on seventh-placed Coventry with just four games left, Luton have practically secured playoff status for a second season running.
The Hatters also still have the second-best defensive record in the league this season with just 36 goals scored, and only Burnley have lost fewer games than Luton's eight so far.
Forebet predicts another victory for Luton here after such an incredible run of form and a dreadful spell for Reading. Forebet also predicts the game to see under 2.5 goals.