Huddersfield Town will go in search of a third consecutive league win when they host Reading on Saturday afternoon.
The Terriers have found some surprise early form and sit 10th in the Championship table after four games, while the Royals are struggling in 18th.
Match preview
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Not since February 2017, when David Wagner was driving Huddersfield towards promotion, have the Terriers won three league matches in succession.
After a 5-1 defeat to Fulham a fortnight ago, it looked unlikely they would achieve that feat anytime soon, with many pundits tipping Carlos Corberan's men to struggle again this season following a 20th-place finish last term.
Nevertheless, victories over Preston North End and Sheffield United have turned their form around, with Chelsea loanee Levi Colwill scoring a 94th-minute winner to beat the Blades 2-1 at Bramall Lane last weekend.
Meanwhile, the Terriers were a touch unlucky to be knocked out of the EFL Cup by Everton in midweek as they had the better of the possession and chances against the Premier League outfit.
However, Huddersfield have only won one of their last nine home matches, while Reading have been victorious on their last two trips to the John Smith's Stadium.
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Wins have been hard to come by for the Royals of late though, as they have registered just two victories in their last 15 Championship outings.
Veljko Paunovic's men have only three points so far this season, winning one and losing three of their opening four matches.
Their latest defeat – 2-1 against Coventry City last weekend – was the biggest sucker punch as Matty Godden netted the winner in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
Reading have conceded the most goals in the Championship at this early stage (nine) and the pressure is building on Paunovic, who is also having to deal with transfer restrictions imposed by the EFL.
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Team News
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After making six changes for the cup tie with Everton in midweek, Corberan should restore most of the rested players to the starting lineup such as Levi Colwill, Jonathan Hogg and Josh Koroma.
Danny Ward is yet to score in four league starts this season, meaning Fraizer Campbell could come in, while summer signing Danel Sinani staked a claim for a spot upfront with an impressive showing against Everton.
Reading defender Tom McIntyre is set to be out for the next three months after being forced off injured against Coventry last week.
That could either see Ethan Bristow come back in at left-back or Andy Yiadom switch flanks and Tom Holmes play at right-back.
No player has more goal involvements in the Championship this season than John Swift, who has three goals and two assists.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Sarr, Colwill; Turton, O'Brien, Hogg, High, Thomas; Koroma, Ward
Reading possible starting lineup:
Rafael; Yiadom, Moore, Morrison, Bristow; Laurent, Rinomhota; Azeez, Swift, Dele-Bashiru; Puscas
We say: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Reading
There is probably more quality in the Reading side, but confidence seems low in Berkshire at the moment, while Huddersfield will be feeling optimistic after two good wins. It is a tough game to call, so we think this one will end level.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Reading win with a probability of 36.79%. A win for Huddersfield Town had a probability of 34.96% and a draw had a probability of 28.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Reading win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.61%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.78%) and 0-2 (6.83%). The likeliest Huddersfield Town win was 1-0 (11.25%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.23%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 0.7% likelihood.
