Reading match preview

History of the Sunderland v Reading fixture

Sunderland play host to Reading at Stadium Of Light on Saturday evening.

The last time the two teams met at Sunderland was back in February 1998, over five years ago, when they eased past their opponents in a high-scoring 4-1 thriller, in a League Division One match.

For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here

Recent encounters between the teams:
1997/1998	Tue 17 Feb	Sunderland	4-1	Reading	LD1
1997/1998	Sat 04 Oct	Reading	4 - 0	Sunderland	LD1
1995/1996	Sat 16 Dec	Reading	1 - 1	Sunderland	LD1
1995/1996	Sat 30 Sep	Sunderland	2 - 2	Reading	LD1
1994/1995	Sat 03 Dec	Sunderland	0 - 1	Reading	LD1
1994/1995	Sat 22 Oct	Reading	0 - 2	Sunderland	LD1
1986/1987	Sat 31 Jan	Reading	1 - 0	Sunderland	DIV2

Recent respective form guides

Sunderland's home form is poor, winning just 2 of the last six, and losing the other 4. While Black Cats have scored 5, a worringly large 9 have been leaked at the other end.

Reading's away form is none too clever either, coming away with three points on 3 occassions, but drawing 1 and losing 2. The games have constituted a decent return of 11 goals for the Royals, and 5 goals against.

Sunderland's 13 points from 8 games sees them lie inside the top half of the table, in 9th position. Reading lie just outside the playoff positions in the Nationwide League Division One, picking up 14 from their 8 games so far.

For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here

Current form guides:	P	W	D	L	F	A	P
Sunderland	6	4	1	1	12	5	13
Reading	6	3	1	2	9	6	10

FootyMad's prediction ...

Its been a distinctly poor show from Sunderland at home in recent games, and, though I cannot see a run starting here, I do think the Black Cats will at least gain a draw. No-score draw

Sequence statistics:
Sunderland	11 games since last home draw. Not won in the 2 most recent games.
Reading	5 games since last away draw. Last drawn game 5 outings ago.