Rotherham United vs Reading: Match Preview

Can the Royals bring dismay to Steve Evans and his Millers side?

Coming off back-to-back wins against top sides has boosted the confidence of Reading players and fans. Hopefully they’ll get that again this weekend.

Rotherham United are coming off the back of a win against Cambridge United but aren’t necessarily sparking life into their football this season, having only won two games.

In this preview I will talk about how Reading can tactically outmanoeuvre the Millers, the most important assets to each team, and my Royals lineup.

What? League One matchday nine

Season? 2024/25

Who? Rotherham United

Where? New York Stadium

When? Saturday October 5

Time? 15:00

Opposition manager? Steve Evans

Important assets to both sides

Johnson Clarke-Harris is a very prolific striker who this season has made his return to Rotherham United. Scoring 78 goals for Peterborough United in his second spell with the club, the striker had been on most EFL teams’ watchlists for a while before he left in the summer. (He is usually my go-to signing on Football Manager).

Clarke-Harris has the acceleration to beat any defender on the turn and that is his strength when making his runs. The striker has a very powerful shot and is willing to shoot from anywhere he can, which could cause a lot of danger for the Royals at the weekend.

Another recent signing for Rotherham is Joe Powell. Last at Burton, Joe Powell is a midfielder who dictates the tempo of a game. He hasn’t yet got off the mark for Rotherham, but I don’t doubt that it will take much longer.

The midfielder is also somewhat of a set-piece specialist. He scored a few free-kicks in his time at Burton so I would watch players like Clarke-Harris who draws many fouls.

Ben Elliot has been crucial to the success Reading have had this season. He has stepped up his game massively since last season and I think that it’s about time everyone else put some respect on his name.

The Cameroonian international bagged his first and second goals in consecutive weekends recently but it’s the way he plays that I like. Not only on the ball is he excellent, but off the ball his work rate is outstanding. He gets into space to receive the pass and then has impeccable vision to glide one forward.

There were many other players I could have picked: Lewis Wing, Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan etc, but the player I am going to focus on Tyler Bindon. Our young superstar has made the left-centre-back position his own and has had some national team call-ups because of it.

He is a rock in the defence and his stats have proven it. He has won 69% of his aerial duels, 83% of his tackles and 63% of his standard duels. What a player we have on our hands and I am very excited to hopefully have him for the next few seasons.

Tactics

As I’ve mentioned before, Reading play a 4-3-3 gegenpress style, indicating that they press from the front. Rotherham use a 5-2-3 route-one style of play.

It’s a bit dull if I’m being honest, but it seems to have worked when Steve Evans managed Stevenage last season. However there are a few ways route one can be beaten. Luckily, one of them is pressing.

The five defenders Rotherham have mean they are more relaxed due to the extra cover they have, but it means they make more mistakes. With how we press, players like Harvey Knibbs and Sam Smith are going to be vital in getting us the victory.

The press involves putting the defender under pressure so they are prone to making mistakes such as kicking the ball out of play rather than to a teammate, or them misjudging their control of the ball, allowing the attackers to pounce on the opportunity.

Pressing also stops players such as Powell from getting much time on the ball to play a pass forward for them to attack.

My lineup

I think Ruben Selles will name an unchanged lineup from Burton on Tuesday.

The main shock from this prediction is that I am opting to keep Andre Garcia in the lineup. I thought he did well enough to be able to retain the position but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Kelvin Abrefa makes an appearance in his place.

This unchanged lineup consists of David Button, Michael Craig, Amadou Mbengue, Tyler Bindon, Andre Garcia, Lewis Wing, Ben Elliott, Harvey Knibbs, Chem Campbell, Sam Smith and Kelvin Ehibatiomhan.

Score prediction: 2-0 Reading!

Come on you Royals!