Madejski: Reading Can Beat Chelsea!

Few would tip First Division Reading to gun down Champions League supergiants Chelsea in the Carling Cup especially given that the West London side have billionaire benefactor Roman Abramovich as their sugar daddy.

But Reading's own John Madejski, who owns a more modestly sized football club and bank balance, reckons that his side's show of force at the Madejski Stadium could prove to much for the Blue's highly-paid stars.

Madejski splashed out over £1m over the summer in new players, yet that was a small splash in the ocean when compared with the £300m that Mr Abramovich reportedly poured into Chelsea.

Whilst Chelsea are expected to field a reserve team for next month's game, the Royals remain, to put it politely, second favourites.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Joe Cole, Robert Huth and Emmanuel Petit are all top experienced pros who on paper at least should rip Reading apart.

However, Madejski is confident ahead of the clash. Looking ahead to next months game he said to the official site: "This represents an excellent opportunity to show the world how strong and great our footballing side is at Reading.

"I am looking forward to a major upset in the Footballing World. We can do it!"

Meanwhile, Chelsea last night battered Lazio in their own backyard, scoring four times without reply to record a result that surprised many, even given the vast strength of the West London side's squad.

Tickets for next months game are unsurprisingly selling well, with 8,000 having been sold in the first three days of trading to season ticket holders and season ticket holders with stubs from the Huddersfield game.