Cardiff City vs Reading: Match guide and preview

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Competition: England Championship
Competition: Fri 17.February
Match begins: 20:00 (UTC)
Venue: Cardiff City Stadium (26828 seats)

Cardiff City - Reading in Championship: Stats, team lineups, fixtures, tendencies and reports. Read our comprehensive preview!

Insights:
  • Cardiff City have the fewest scored goals (24) in Championship
  • Reading have the most conceded goals (29) away in Championship

It's no vacation for neither Cardiff City nor Reading as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.

W L L L L

Cardiff City form and stats

Cardiff City have played 16 Championship games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 4-5-7 (wins-draws-losses). With eight home Championship games in a row without a win, the Cardiff City fans could feel they are not getting value for their money.

Happy days for Cardiff City in their previous game, a fixture away at Birmingham City (placed 18th) that ended with a 2-0 victory. This was their first victory after twelve consecutive league fixtures not winning! Midfield player Wintle got a match rating of 7.8 in that game, the max score being 10. Wintle hit three key passes and dribled past the opponent 1 of 1 times.

Preceding that match was a defeat to Middlesbrough (1-3).

The hosts are modest favourites in this match, with the bookmakers estimating the chance of a home win at about 50% +- five percent. It's interesting to look at how Cardiff have performed under similar circumstances, so here are some numbers: When modest favourites like this (we found 11 games) they have won 3 times, drawn 3 and lost 5.

Trouble hitting the net? Looking at this team's last 10 league games, 9 have seen zero, one or two goals.

The goals haven't exactly been flowing for Cardiff City here at Cardiff City Stadium in the league, with less than one goal per game on average (12 from 16 games).

W L D L L

Reading form and stats

There's been little loot from Reading's travels as they have only collected 11 points from 16 away games in the Championship. Reading only have 3 wins to counter their 11 defeats and 2 draws. Three consecutive losses in away matches means Reading are growing more and more desperate for a good performance on the road.

Reading had fun at their own home (Cardiff City Stadium) last time out, beating Rotherham United 2-1. Fornah and Carroll scored. Eureka; their first victory in the league after six rounds not winning. Fornah came off the bench to score the winning goal in the match against Rotherham United last time out, making the manager Ince feel like a tactical genius. Attacker Carroll got a player rating of 9.05 in the game. "Man of the match" Carroll scored one goal, served one assist and hit four key passes.

Prior to that match, the Reading manager Ince faced defeat when travelling to Sunderland and losing 0-1.

Reading are the outsiders in this one, but not by much. Their performance in similar games (being the away team and moderate outsiders) is 4 wins, 2 draws and 11 defeats. From a total of 17 matches.

The visitors have scored 11 goals from 16 away games in the league, an average of less than one per game. It's been trouble in front of goal recently, as only 0 of these goals has been scored in their last three away matches. Reading's defence is not exactly unbeatable as they have conceded 29 goals from these trips.

Head 2 Head

These competitors have fought before this season: Reading - Cardiff City 2-1. H2H stats regardless of arena (last ten matches): Cardiff City one win, five draws and Reading four victories. As for goals, five matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), five games had two or less.

Top Goalscorers

ReadingT. Ince
T. Ince
7 goals
CardiffC. Robinson
C. Robinson
5 goals
ReadingL. Santos João
L. Santos João
5 goals

Cardiff City missing players

Reading missing players

Total First Half Second Half
Cardiff City Reading
Total Home vs mid Statistics Stat vs low Away Total
32 16 4 Played P 6 16 31
8 4 1 Won W 1 3 12
8 5 1 Drew D 0 2 5
16 7 2 Lost L 5 11 14
24 12 3 Scored S 4 11 35
36 16 4 Conceded C 14 29 46
88% 88% 75% Over 0.5 O 0.5 100% 94% 97%
50% 44% 25% Over 1.5 O 1.5 67% 62% 74%
28% 25% 25% Over 2.5 O 2.5 67% 50% 58%
16% 12% 25% Over 3.5 O 3.5 50% 31% 26%
6% 6% 25% Over 4.5 O 4.5 17% 12% 6%
34% 44% 25% BTTS BTTS 33% 38% 48%
31% 38% 50% Clean Sheets C S 17% 19% 23%
47% 31% 50% Failed to Score F T 50% 50% 32%
 
4.9 5.8 7.8 Corners for (avg) C F 5.7 5.1 4.7
4.8 4 2.8 Corners against (avg) C A 3.2 4.9 4.8
1.9 1.7 0.8 Yellow cards (avg) Y C 1.3 1.8 2.1
3 1 0 Red cards R C 0 0 0
 
11.6 14.6 16.2 Shots (avg) S ( 10.7 9.5 10.2
2.8 3 2.8 Shots on Target (avg) S O 3.5 2.9 3.1
27% 25% 27% Goal Efficiency G E 19% 24% 36%
 
10.9 9.4 7 Shots against (avg) S A 10.5 12.6 11.8
3.2 2.3 2 Shots on Target against (avg) S O 3.8 4 3.5
Key stats in Championship this season:
  • Cardiff City have the fewest scored goals (24) in Championship
  • Cardiff City have the fewest scored goals in the first half (10) in Championship
  • Cardiff City have the most matches under the total-line (23) in Championship
  • Reading have conceded at least twice as many goals as they have scored away.
  • Reading have the most conceded goals (29) away in Championship
  • Reading have the the worst goal difference (-18) away in Championship

  Total Home Away  
# Team MP W D L F A MP W D L F A MP W D L F A +/- P
1 Burnley 31 20 9 2 62 27 17 12 5 0 36 13 14 8 4 2 26 14 35 69
2 Sheffield United 30 18 7 5 51 24 15 10 3 2 33 13 15 8 4 3 18 11 27 61
3 Middlesbrough 31 15 6 10 50 36 15 8 5 2 23 12 16 7 1 8 27 24 14 51
4 Luton Town 30 13 10 7 38 30 15 5 7 3 20 16 15 8 3 4 18 14 8 49
5 Sunderland 31 13 9 9 46 33 15 6 4 5 20 16 16 7 5 4 26 17 13 48
6 Watford 32 12 11 9 38 35 15 7 4 4 21 14 17 5 7 5 17 21 3 47
7 Millwall 30 13 7 10 36 30 14 8 4 2 21 9 16 5 3 8 15 21 6 46
8 Norwich City 31 13 6 12 43 36 16 6 4 6 22 20 15 7 2 6 21 16 7 45
9 Blackburn Rovers 30 14 3 13 32 36 14 9 1 4 20 13 16 5 2 9 12 23 -4 45
10 West Bromwich Albion 30 12 8 10 39 32 15 7 4 4 21 14 15 5 4 6 18 18 7 44
11 Coventry City 31 11 9 11 33 33 17 8 5 4 21 15 14 3 4 7 12 18 0 42
12 Hull City 32 11 8 13 38 47 16 6 3 7 18 23 16 5 5 6 20 24 -9 41
13 Reading 31 12 5 14 35 46 15 9 3 3 24 17 16 3 2 11 11 29 -11 41
14 Preston North End 30 11 7 12 27 36 15 3 4 8 9 20 15 8 3 4 18 16 -9 40
15 Bristol City 30 10 9 11 40 39 16 6 4 6 20 17 14 4 5 5 20 22 1 39
16 Swansea City 30 10 9 11 43 45 14 6 2 6 23 20 16 4 7 5 20 25 -2 39
17 Queens Park Rangers 32 10 9 13 33 43 16 5 4 7 18 23 16 5 5 6 15 20 -10 39
18 Birmingham City 31 10 8 13 36 40 17 5 5 7 20 20 14 5 3 6 16 20 -4 38
19 Stoke City 30 9 7 14 33 38 15 4 4 7 17 18 15 5 3 7 16 20 -5 34
20 Rotherham United 31 7 12 12 34 42 14 5 5 4 24 17 17 2 7 8 10 25 -8 33
21 Cardiff City 32 8 8 16 24 36 16 4 5 7 12 16 16 4 3 9 12 20 -12 32
22 Wigan Athletic 30 7 8 15 28 49 16 3 3 10 12 30 14 4 5 5 16 19 -21 29
23 Huddersfield Town 30 7 7 16 28 39 15 5 3 7 14 15 15 2 4 9 14 24 -11 28
24 Blackpool 30 6 10 14 30 45 15 3 5 7 16 21 15 3 5 7 14 24 -15 28

Cardiff City:
Reading:
Championship:
England:
Table
  Total Home Away  
# Team MP W D L F A MP W D L F A MP W D L F A +/- P
1 Burnley 31 20 9 2 62 27 17 12 5 0 36 13 14 8 4 2 26 14 35 69
2 Sheffield United 30 18 7 5 51 24 15 10 3 2 33 13 15 8 4 3 18 11 27 61
3 Middlesbrough 31 15 6 10 50 36 15 8 5 2 23 12 16 7 1 8 27 24 14 51
4 Luton Town 30 13 10 7 38 30 15 5 7 3 20 16 15 8 3 4 18 14 8 49
5 Sunderland 31 13 9 9 46 33 15 6 4 5 20 16 16 7 5 4 26 17 13 48
6 Watford 32 12 11 9 38 35 15 7 4 4 21 14 17 5 7 5 17 21 3 47
7 Millwall 30 13 7 10 36 30 14 8 4 2 21 9 16 5 3 8 15 21 6 46
8 Norwich City 31 13 6 12 43 36 16 6 4 6 22 20 15 7 2 6 21 16 7 45
9 Blackburn Rovers 30 14 3 13 32 36 14 9 1 4 20 13 16 5 2 9 12 23 -4 45
10 West Bromwich Albion 30 12 8 10 39 32 15 7 4 4 21 14 15 5 4 6 18 18 7 44
11 Coventry City 31 11 9 11 33 33 17 8 5 4 21 15 14 3 4 7 12 18 0 42
12 Hull City 32 11 8 13 38 47 16 6 3 7 18 23 16 5 5 6 20 24 -9 41
13 Reading 31 12 5 14 35 46 15 9 3 3 24 17 16 3 2 11 11 29 -11 41
14 Preston North End 30 11 7 12 27 36 15 3 4 8 9 20 15 8 3 4 18 16 -9 40
15 Bristol City 30 10 9 11 40 39 16 6 4 6 20 17 14 4 5 5 20 22 1 39
16 Swansea City 30 10 9 11 43 45 14 6 2 6 23 20 16 4 7 5 20 25 -2 39
17 Queens Park Rangers 32 10 9 13 33 43 16 5 4 7 18 23 16 5 5 6 15 20 -10 39
18 Birmingham City 31 10 8 13 36 40 17 5 5 7 20 20 14 5 3 6 16 20 -4 38
19 Stoke City 30 9 7 14 33 38 15 4 4 7 17 18 15 5 3 7 16 20 -5 34
20 Rotherham United 31 7 12 12 34 42 14 5 5 4 24 17 17 2 7 8 10 25 -8 33
21 Cardiff City 32 8 8 16 24 36 16 4 5 7 12 16 16 4 3 9 12 20 -12 32
22 Wigan Athletic 30 7 8 15 28 49 16 3 3 10 12 30 14 4 5 5 16 19 -21 29
23 Huddersfield Town 30 7 7 16 28 39 15 5 3 7 14 15 15 2 4 9 14 24 -11 28
24 Blackpool 30 6 10 14 30 45 15 3 5 7 16 21 15 3 5 7 14 24 -15 28

More from England - Championship

Read more about Championship

The English Football League Championship (usually shortened to the Championship) is the second highest division in the English football league system. 24 teams play 46 fixtures from August to May, meeting each other twice. The Championship is the wealthiest second-level division in the world.