Reading vs. Manchester City: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

After one of the more tumultuous weeks in club history, Manchester City will look to let their football do the talking when they take on Reading in the Premier League.

Having lost the FA Cup final in embarrassing fashion to Wigan Athletic and then firing manager Roberto Mancini only a few days afterwards, the 2012 league champions find themselves desperately needing a win to ensure that their club remains positive in a frustrating time.

The same, at one level, goes for Reading as well.

The Royals are going to be relegated at the end of the season, and are simply playing for pride in their club at the moment. They have already lost their manager this year and seen him replaced with Nigel Adkins, who has managed just one win in charge of the Royals.

Knowing that they can't avoid the drop anymore, Reading have lost just one of their last four and will definitely fancy their chances at pulling out a shock win here.

Will they do just that or can City restore some order with a strong victory?

Read on for a full preview of this match, including all the key details, live viewing information, analysis, predictions and much more!

Date	Start Time	Venue
Tuesday, May 14, 2013	3:00 p.m. ET	Madejski Stadium, Reading

Live Stream and TV Information

According to Live Soccer TV, coverage of this game in the United States is available via Fox Soccer Plus and TalkSport Radio. 

FoxSoccer 2Go will provide a live stream of the fixture as well.

Recent Form and Previous Matches

As mentioned above, recent form hasn't been all that great for Manchester City, who lost their chance at a trophy when they lost the FA Cup final 1-0 to Wigan.

They've been traveling well in the Premier League—losing just one of their past seven—but come into this fixture with very little to play for. After all, they have already lost the league title to United and have already qualified for the Champions League next season.

Reading, on the other hand, scored their first league win since February with a 4-2 victory away from home to Fulham. They will be relegated at the end of the year, so they can now afford to play much more free-flowing football that we know they can provide, and that could well pay dividends in this one.

When these two sides played earlier in the season, it took until injury time for a goal to be scored and for Manchester City to find a winner, with Gareth Barry heading home from a David Silva cross.

City completely dominated that game but very nearly failed to prove it on the scoresheet. They had a staggering 73 percent of the possession, had 21 shots to five and created 18 separate goal-scoring chances, and yet they only just managed to walk away with the three points in hand.

Which, given the climbing that took place on the goal, they were perhaps lucky to get at all.

Key Player to Watch: Adam Le Fondre, Reading

Given all the attacking talent existent in the Citizens lineup, it might seem strange to consider anyone other than one of their players as the key player to watch.

However, we know what we're going to get from them. What we don't know is how the Royals will respond in turn, and whether they can get their attack going—making their main man, Adam Le Fondre, the most important player to watch going forward in this game.

Often selected on the bench this year, Le Fondre has a keen eye for goal and has shown to be more than capable of taking any chance presented to him.

He can create goals out of nothing, and will provide great pressure on City's back four, which has been subject to some notable errors throughout the season.

Look for Le Fondre to be a huge threat on the counterattack here.

Biggest Storyline to Follow: How Will City's New Manager Fare?

According to a club statement, Assistant Manager Brian Kidd will take over at Manchester City for the remaining two games of the season.

That will therefore technically make him the "new manager" for this game, and it will be fascinating to see how he fares in his first game in charge this year.

Especially given what we've seen this year from new managers.

The table below highlights the managerial changes we've seen this season and how those respective managers have fared in their debut game in charge.

For Kidd, it doesn't make for pleasant viewing.

Manager	Club	Opponent	Result
Rafa Benitez	Chelsea	Manchester City (A)	0-0 Draw
Harry Redknapp	Queens Park Rangers	Sunderland (A)	0-0 Draw
Mauricio Pochettino	Southampton	Everton (H)	0-0 Draw
Nigel Adkins	Reading	Arsenal (A)	4-1 Loss
Paolo Di Canio	Sunderland	Chelsea (A)	2-1 Loss

Can Kidd become the first manager in the EPL this season to win in his debut game? Or will he follow suit like all the other debut managers before him this year?

We'll know soon enough.

Three Stats to Consider

455.  It has been 455 minutes since a Reading player scored a goal at the Madjeski Stadium in the Premier League, with the last being Jimmy Kebe against Sunderland on February 2, 2013. Reading have scored just one goal in their last five home games, and that was an own goal by Nathan Baker.

31.  With two Premier League matches still to play, City have scored 31 fewer goals than they did last season and have scored just 23 road goals all year.

7.  Manchester City have won just two of their past seven away games.

Statistics provided via Yahoo! Sports

Prediction

How this one will unfold is seemingly very difficult to predict, because's it's hard to assess just how Kidd will line up his team. If he opts for an attacking team then we could be in for a four- or five-goal thriller; if he opts to simply not lose then it could be 0-0.

I think Reading will look to attack the Citizens, and their gung-ho approach here should pay dividends. However, you've got to think that City are simply playing for pride here, and even if the Royals do score, they should be able to pick up the points in this one.

If for no other reason than to prove they're not completely beaten yet.

Prediction: Reading 1, Manchester City 2

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