Reading between the lines, Posh will struggle

Plenty of midweek football for us to have a good look into and find the best bets this week, The Quarter Finals of the Carling Cup, The Championship, League One and the Europa League should keep us entertained. Our first pick comes from England's second tier, The Championship.

The 8 o'clock kick off in the Championship, sees Reading entertain Peterborough at the Madejski Stadium. Both sides currently sit in mid table on 24 points each as they both look to push towards the play-off places. The Royals have had a number of tough & tight affairs recently against Cardiff, Birmingham, Crystal Palace & Southampton where they have picked up 5 points & only one defeat to high flying Cardiff. This weekend they had a remarkable victory over Ipswich when they entered stoppage time trailing 2-1 but two goals in three minutes from Alex Pearce & Noel Hunt meant they left with the points. Visitors Peterborough have struggled on the road since their return to the Championship with five defeats in their nine games & conceding 16 goals in the process. Their current form has seen them only manage one victory in their last six games at home to a Derby side who are dropping like a stone at the moment. We expect Reading riding high from their weekend come back to be too strong for poor travellers Peterborough at the best price of 4/5 with Skybet & Stan James.

Despite thier awful showing in the Premier League this season the 94/95 champions Blackburn Rovers find themselves visiting the Capital of Wales trying to secure a place in the semi finals of the Carling Cup, Cardiff City are the hosts.

Malky Mackay's Bluebirds were fancied by few this season following departures of big name players during the summer however the remaining players and the players the Scot has brought into the squad seem to have clicked almost instantly. Cardiff find themselves third in the table and on a good run of form, they last lost in mid October and more impressively have only been defeated at the Cardiff City Stadium once, to then in form Brighton. Mackay has respected the competition in each of the previous rounds selecting a strong side that has seen off Oxford, Huddersfield, Leicester and Burnley to reach this stage. Steve Kean's Blackburn's woes have been well documented with plenty of Ewood Park fans venting thier views as to the future of the aforementioned Kean. Rovers are without a league victory since they put 4 past Arsenal in September, they'll be looking to return to Lancashire with victory to boost their confidence ahead of a run of Premier League games in which they can pick up points against Swansea, Sunderland, West Brom and Bolton. The good news for the Rovers faithful is that their performances of late have improved and they are scoring more goals (11 in 5), Cardiff too are a side capable of scoring goals, most notably the in-form Peter Whittingham. We fancy over 2.5 goals in this one, best priced at 10/11 with William Hill.

Selections:

Reading to beat Peterborough at 4/5 (Skybet & Stan James)

Over 2.5 goals in the Cardiff vs Blackburn game at 10/11 (William Hill)