Match Preview: Reading

Two sides that have made less than impressive starts chase their first win on Sky TV. Leicester welcome the cameras to the Walkers Stadium for the first time this season. Already the Foxes are scheduled to appear four times on TV before the end of November. That’s well on the way to matching last season’s 10 appearances on the box, in which the Foxes won four, drew three and lost three.

The conventional wisdom is that TV games lead to lower attendances. That wasn’t the case in 2009/10. Last season’s average attendance across all 22 home league matches (including the playoffs) was 23,943, the City matches on TV had average gates of 25,216. That said, City’s sluggish start could lead to a diminished turnout.

Reading have taken seven points from their last three visits to the Walkers Stadium. Of the current Championship crop only Burnley and Preston (three consecutive league wins at the Walkers) can better the Royals recent record.

But the history between the two sides is short. The only side in the Championship the City have faced fewer times than Reading (15 matches in all competitions) is Scunthorpe (8 matches).

Despite this, the Foxes will want to get even after last season’s result. Reading snatched all three points at the Walkers thanks to a late penalty. The Berkshire side were the side awarded 11 spot kicks last season, more than any other Championship team.

Before the season SkyBet offered 11/2 that this match would bring Paulo Sousa’s first league win. I wonder how much the manager would give for his first victory now?

Leicester and the League Cup

It’s now more than ten years since Martin O’Neil’s Leicester side lifted the League Cup. Since then City’s record in the competition has seen few shocks, but a few memorable cup nights.

Macclesfield fans looking for evidence of a surprise this evening need to go back to 1st November 2000 to find the last time Leicester lost a League Cup match to a side from a lower division. That night Peter Taylor’s City were dumped out of the competition in the 3rd Round by Crystal Palace, a side who on the night sat 23rd in what was then Division One. Following that shock City have faced 10 clubs from a lower division in the League Cup and progressed in every single tie.

Perhaps surprisingly tonight’s League Cup home tie will only be Leicester’s 9th in 11 seasons. The Foxes have won four and lost four League Cup ties on home soil in that time. On the road City have played 16 games, winning 10.

Since winning the competition the furthest Leicester have progressed is the last 16. City fans hoping for a cup run will not be surprised at the Foxes one win in six against teams from a higher division. Matty Fryatt’s winner at Aston Villa in 2007 was the only occasion since 2000 that City have shocked Premier League opposition

This is not to say Leicester’s League Cup exploits have not been entertaining. Narrow defeats at Fulham and Chelsea and an extra-time exit at the hands of Aston Villa in particular have been standout moments from the last 10 years. These high-scoring encounters (3-2, 4-3 and 2-3 respectively) have in part contributed to an impressive average of 3.04 goals per City League Cup match.

What has been of more concern for the competition as a whole is the lacklustre attendances in the early rounds. Sadly City’s record here mirrors that of the nation. 7,386 watched City’s last 1st Round League Cup tie at home to Stockport in 2008. The last time Macclesfield visited the Walkers Stadium in the 1st Round of the 2006/07 season just 6,298 showed up. A 2nd Round home tie with Blackpool attracted 7,386 in 2005 and at the same stage in 2004 the 3-2 extra-time defeat to Preston was watched by 6,751.

It wasn’t always like this. The 2nd Round second leg game against Crystal Palace in 1999 attracted 12,762 and in the next round 13,701 saw the Foxes beat Grimsby 2-0. A year earlier 13,480 watched the 2nd Round first leg match with Chesterfield. It’s hard not to think that £12 ticket prices for games which used to be included in the season ticket is part of the reason for the declining crowds. Perhaps the club takes in more ticket revenue this way, but I wonder if City would have done better in League Cup ties at home if the players had been backed by a decent crowd.