Reading vs. Chelsea: Lineups & Game Thread

In tonight's battle of note-taking, Reading's Brian McDermott is slightly favored over Chelsea's Interim Manager. McDermott's lower center of gravity and smooth, aerodynamic head allow him to hit the notepad 0.03 seconds earlier than the slower moving mass of his opponent. The specially crafted, USA-made space pen allows him to start writing 0.05 seconds earlier, even if the notepad-pen spacial relationship is not quite optimal. Advantage: Reading.

Meanwhile, there's football:

Reading starting lineup (4-5-1):
Adam Federici | Ian Harte, Adrian Mariappa, Alex Pearce, Stephen Kelly | Jobi McAnuff, Jem Karacan, Mikele Leigertwood, Danny Guthrie, Jimmy Kebe | Pavel Pogrebnyak

Substitutes from: Stuart Taylor, Nicky Shorey, Sean Morrison, Hope Akpan, Hal Robson-Kanu, Garath McCleary, Adam Le Fondre

Chelsea starting lineup (4-2-3-1):
Ross Turnbull | Ashley Cole, Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta | Frank Lampard, Ramires | Ryan Bertrand, Juan Mata, Oscar | Fernando Torres

Substitutes from: Hilario, Paulo Ferreira, John Terry, Nathan Ake, Yossi Benayoun, Marko Marin, Demba Ba

Chelsea have not won in four straight Wednesday night matches. Home losses to QPR, Swansea City, a home draw with Southampton, and an away draw with Swansea City (ballboy-gate) is how that record reads. You should be feeling an ominous dread come over you at this point.

And that's before you even spot ol' Fernando in the lineup or realize just how useless that bench is (besides Demba Ba, of course).