Form
Plymouth Argyle were relegated from Championship last season after finishing 23rd in the league on 46 points, three away from safety. Relegation ended Argyle’s two-year stay in the Championship, having won League One in 2023.
They have struggled upon their return to the third tier, currently sitting 17th, two places below Reading, however the sides currently sit on the same number of points. Argyle have only drawn once this season and have seen eight wins and 12 defeats.
Their recent form has been
stronger than earlier on this season, picking up nine points in their last five games. They come into this Friday’s game off the back of an impressive 1-5 away win against Doncaster Rovers.
The two sides last faced each other in 2019 in a League Cup match that Reading won 2-4 at Home Park after two goals from Josh Barrett and two from Yakou Meite.
The boss
Tom Cleverley: Cleverley was appointed Plymouth head coach in June this year, taking over from Miron Muslic, who joined German side Schalke 04.
He had a 15-year career as a player, starting out at Manchester United before also playing for Everton and Watford, where he made 181 appearances. Cleverley retired when with the Hornets and went on to take on a coaching role with their under-18s.
Cleverley was named interim head coach in 2024 after Valerien Ismael’s sacking and was given the job permanently almost two months later. He guided Watford to 15th- and 14th-placed finishes in the Championship, before he was sacked in May this year.
He was only out of work for a month before Plymouth offered him the head-coach role. The 36-year-old has had a tough start to life in Devon with the club sat towards the bottom of the table, winning eight of his 21 games in charge so far, giving a win percentage of 38%.
Cleverley likes his sides to play out from the back and is a strong developer of players.
Squad
Plymouth prepared for life back in League One with the signings of 16 players.
They paid fees for five, including forwards Lorent Tolaj (Port Vale), Aribim Pebble (Luton Town) and Owen Oseni (St Mirren) and midfielders Bradley Ibrahim (Hertha BSC) and Brendan Wiredu (Fleetwood Town). Other key arrivals included the free transfers of midfielders Joe Ralls, Caleb Watts and Jamie Paterson and goalkeeper Luca Ashby-Hammond.
Defender Brandon Galloway will be missing as he represents Zimbabwe at the African Cup of Nations.
Predicted lineup
Hazard, Edwards, Pleguezuelo, Mitchell, Sorinola, Boateng, Ralls, Benarous, Oseni, Mumba, Tolaj
Key player
9. Lorent Tolaj: Striker Tolaj joined Plymouth this summer from Port Vale for an undisclosed fee.
He started his career in the youth setup at FC Sion before joining the Brighton & Hove Albion academy. He never made a first-team appearance for Brighton but spent time on loan at Cambridge United, Salford City and Dundee. Tolaj joined non-league Aldershot on a permanent deal in 2023 and scored 21 goals in his one season at the Shots.
He went on to join Port Vale in June last year and scored 16 goals for them as they secured promotion back to League One. The 24-year-old already has 13 Plymouth goals to his name since joining the club this summer, including a hat-trick in their 1-5 win against Doncaster last weekend.
Tolaj is a striker – a natural finisher who holds the ball up well.
One to watch
11. Bali Mumba: Wide man Mumba joined Plymouth in July 2023 from Sunderland after a successful loan spell the previous season.
He started his career in the youth setup at Sunderland and made his debut for the Black Cats in 2018. Mumba made 10 appearances for Sunderland before moving to Norwich City on a permanent deal in 2020. He found first-team football hard to come by and spent time on loan at Peterborough United and then Plymouth.
Mumba won promotion to the Championship in his first season at Argyle and was named their young player of the season. He’s gone on to make 166 appearances for the Pilgrims in total, scoring nine goals. The 24-year-old can play as a wing-back or winger and is a strong dribbler with good pace.
