Marcus Hahnemann, the Reading goalkeeper, is no stereotypical footballer, no average Joe. The bald-headed American owns an armoury of assorted guns and, an avid petrol-head, likes nothing better than tinkering under the bonnet of his ageing Porsche.

Yet when it comes to preparing for matches – even the biggest, as when Manchester United, the Barclays Premier League leaders, visit the Madejski Stadium today – routine is everything. Same old this, same old that. Superstition rules, with a quirky twist.

Friday evening is chill-out time. “Chicken fajitas first,” Hahnemann said. “Then I stick myself in the loft for a couple of hours and play my Halo [video game]. That’s where it all starts.”

Match day never changes, either. A tuna sandwich three hours before kick-off, then an ear-bashing drive to the stadium to the brain-numbing accompaniment of Slipknot and Tool. “As hard as it can go, man,” he said.

In the dressing-room, Hahnemann plugs in his iPod so that the team talk of Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, is not drowned out. “My music doesn’t exactly coincide with the tastes of others,” he said. “You need headphones.

“It’s just how you prepare, how you get yourself going. If you don’t do the same routine all the time, it seems like you’re not preparing properly. You just want to do exactly what you’ve done before.”

With United in town, the Madejski should be rocking, anyway. When Hahnemann emerges from his heavy metal heaven, coping with Cristiano Ronaldo, United’s prolific winger, will be the only matter on his mind.

“Right now, he’s hot. No question,” Hahnemann said. “A couple of my buddies hate him but I love watching him play. He’s so quick, you can’t get the ball off him, he’s got everything. He’s big in America, he’s big everywhere.

“We know we’re supposed to lose and, sure, I’m probably going to be one of the busiest players on the pitch, but it’s not just about stopping one guy. With United, they have so many great players. You can go through the whole team.

“Then you look at their subs’ bench, who they’re going to bring on, and you think, ‘Jeez. Here we go again’. We know we’re going to have to play above our ability. We’ve got to do all the dirty work and run around like crazed chickens.”

Coppell, a former United and England winger, is also a Ronaldo fan. “He has broken the mould for wide players,” Coppell said. “When I played there, I used to think that one goal in six games was a good rate of scoring. I look at Ronaldo’s record and it’s almost one in one at the moment. And it’s not as if he just stands up there and doesn’t run back, go with the runners or create anything. He creates, he scores, he does the donkey work. For the position, he’s almost a freak.”

Ronaldo is the leading league scorer this season, with 16 goals. Dave Kitson, the Reading striker, heads the English contingent, with eight. Yesterday, Kitson received an 18-month ban from driving and a £1,000 fine after pleading guilty to failing to provide a breath test when stopped by police this month.

United play an exhibition match in Saudi Arabia on Monday, in which Gary Neville could make his return from an ankle problem. With Owen Hargreaves back and Paul Scholes, Louis Saha and Gerard Piqué likely to recover from injury by the end of the month, United are not expected to buy in the transfer market.

Reading drew 0-0 at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season and are one of only three teams to prevent United from scoring in the league. Yet if head-banger Hahnemann predicts a hectic afternoon, he should not fret too much. Hey, it’s only rock’n’roll.