League One Gameweek 11 brings bottom placed Wigan Athletic (24th, 4 points from 8 games, goal difference of -8) up against sixth placed Reading on 17 October 2026. Reading have 15 points and sit comfortably in the play offs, whereas Wigan are already fighting relegation, winless and almost entirely without confidence.
Leam Richardson replaced Noel Hunt at Reading on 28 October 2025 and comes into this one with some personal history, having previously managed Wigan. Gary Caldwell remains in charge for the hosts, which is about all the stability they have had this season.
Wigan's last five league outings read L-L-D-L-L, the most recent being a 0-1 home defeat to Stevenage on 10 October 2026, whereas Reading's corresponding sequence is W-D-D-W-L, capped by a 5-1 away win at MK Dons on the same date. The visitors have scored 22 league goals already.
Wigan have a fully available squad, which would be more encouraging if they were putting it to use. Reading are missing Jack Marriott through injury, with Jamie Reid stepping in as central striker and George Earthy is also out for the foreseeable, though Reading's depth has held up well enough that their goal output hasn't noticeably dropped.
Wigan operate in a defensive low block that has produced just 5 goals while conceding 13. Scott Hogan leads the line still hunting his first league goal of the campaign, while Jensen Weir is the side's top scorer from midfield and their main creative outlet. That setup has left them unable to do much with possession and vulnerable once teams apply sustained pressure, which is a problem when Reading are the visitors.
Lewis Wing and Andy Rinomhota control tempo in the centre and feed the forward line well. Earthy's absence slightly thins the midfield rotation and Reid has to hold the central channel without Marriott alongside him but Richardson's side still generate high xG through quick transitions. The key individual battles are Hogan's movement against Reading's centre backs (Wigan's clearest route to a counter) and Weir trying to find space between Wing and Rinomhota, with Lane's duels against the full backs likely to prove just as telling.
Reading have won 4 of the last 5 meetings and 7 of the last 10, including a 3-0 win as recently as March 2026 and they know how to break down Wigan's defensive shape having done it recently enough that the head to head record carries real weight here.
Weir's delivery and Hogan's aerial ability give Wigan a slim route back into games from set pieces and Reading can also threaten from dead balls. Richardson earned the League One Manager of the Month award in the same stretch that Caldwell's side managed just one draw from five outings.
Reading to win 2-1. Wing and Rinomhota's ability to recycle and press simultaneously should limit Weir's space considerably and with 22 league goals already this season, Reading are unlikely to draw a blank here, though Wigan may nick a late consolation through Hogan or Weir on the counter.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
