Reading may struggle to continue leaving it late against Sunderland

Reading have certainly developed a never-say-die attitude of late thanks to amazing turnarounds against West Brom and Chelsea, but there is little to suggest that more of the same can be expected at home to Sunderland.

All of Reading’s last seven league goals have arrived in the final 20 minutes of matches and an incredible six of these have come in the last 15 minutes of their last three fixtures.

Backing another late showing may be the dish of the day for many punters against Sunderland, especially with the visitors tending to perform better in the opening period than in the second half.

If the Premier League table was based solely on first-half results, Sunderland would be challenging for the Champions League places in fifth.

Meanwhile, if it was only second-half results that made up the top-flight standings, Martin O’Neill’s men would be down in 14th.

However, as a word of caution, Sunderland have only conceded one goal in the last 15 minutes of a game since November and they have yet to either score or concede in injury time in the Premier League all season.

Instead of backing Reading to score in the final 15 minutes against Sunderland, it may pay to take the 7/5 that the second period is the half that contains the most home goals, with 21/10 on offer that Reading’s first goal arrives after the half-time break.

Reading are favourites at 7/5 for victory, with Sunderland at 15/8. But, it is the draw at 23/10 that has the most appeal in the match betting market.

Trying to identify which player will be on target last at the Madejski is another market of interest.

Adam Le Fondre has become a super-sub of Edin Dzeko proportions in recent weeks and is the obvious candidate in this market at 5/1.

But he may be worth taking on with new Sunderland recruit Danny Graham at 11/2, who will probably start on the bench and be introduced in the second half.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date