To ensure they remain at the top of the Championship standings by the end of the weekend, Burnley plays host to Reading on Saturday afternoon with kickoff at 5 pm.
Recently, there has been talk of former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany being in contention for the Aston Villa job.
However, he has since stated that he is not interested in leaving Burnley for another club. The Belgian midfielder is invested in the project at Turf Moor, and everything points to his working at Turf Moor in the long term, with Burnley now 14 matches unbeaten in the Championship.
Although it took a Jay Rodriguez penalty to secure all three points against Norwich City on Tuesday evening, the scoreline did not do Burnley’s performance justice as they outclassed opponents who may still rival them for automatic promotion.
Reading has shown signs of fatigue, but they have bounced back from their poor start to the season by beating Bristol City 2-0.
Andy Carroll got himself on the scoresheet as he continues to prove his fitness at the Royals. Paul Ince knows that Reading remains an outsider to finish in the playoffs. Still, every win they collect is an extra step towards being able to throw caution to the wind later in the season when there are greater expectations of their rivals.
Burnley vs Reading Head to Head
Both sides have 16 games against each other, with the hosts taking four wins while the visitors with ten wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Burnley 1-0 Norwich
- Sunderland 2-4 Burnley
- Birmingham 1-1 Burnley
- Burnley 4-0 Swansea
Away
- Reading 2-0 Bristol
- Swansea 3-2 Reading
- Reading 0-2 West Brom
- QPR 2-1 Reading
Burnley Team News
Burnley midfielder Jack Cork is suspended for this match after collecting his fifth yellow card against Norwich midweek. With Josh Cullen (injury) and Ashley Westwood (injury) out, Samuel Bastien should come into the team for his fifth league start of the campaign.
Reading Team News
Andy Yiadom is available for Reading after a ban. If Manager Paul Ince wants to change the team that kept a rare clean sheet last time out, Yiadom will likely be moved from midfield to right back, and Amadou Salif Mbengue would move from midfield to wing-back.
Prediction and Odds
Reading has ended its recent losing streak and will travel to Burnley on the back of a morale-boosting victory. However, we are backing Burnley to win again.
- Home Win
- Goals Under 2.5
- No Score: Away
