Two promotion hopefuls meet on Wednesday night as Reading host league-leaders Norwich City at the Madejski Stadium.
Norwich secured an impressive 2-1 win away to a dangerous Blackburn Rovers side last time out, while Reading managed an 89th-minute winner to see off Queens Park Rangers.
Match preview
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After a blistering start to their Championship campaign, Reading have shown inconsistency both home and away, seeing them slip down into the playoff places.
That said, they can still look at their form in a positive light, given they have won 10 of their first 18 league matches - the earliest they have reached 10 victories in a league season since 2016-17, when they went on to finish third under Jaap Stam.
They now face a Norwich side looking increasingly dominant and will see this matchup as a great test of their promotion credentials.
To come out on top against the Canaries will require the Royals to overturn a grim track record against the East-Anglian side, having lost four of their last five league matches, shipping 16 goals.
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After their win over Rovers, the Canaries have now just lost once in their last 14 matches and left Ewood Park with the joint-best away record in the division, having picked up 19 points from a possible 27 available on the road.
They had Teemu Pukki to thank after his 50th goal on his 100th appearance gave the leaders a much-deserved 2-1 win.
The win meant that Norwich have now lost just three of their last 32 matches in the Championship across their last two seasons in the division - an impressive run that currently has them alongside Bournemouth as promotion favourites.
Intriguingly, Norwich City and Reading have clashed on 77 occasions in the past, and there is virtually nothing to choose between them. Both sides have an identical head-to-head record, with 29 victories apiece and 19 draws.
Reading Championship form: LDWDWL
Norwich City Championship form: WDLWWW
Team News
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Reading may be forced to go without Yakou Meite again after he suffered an injury against Birmingham City. However, Lucas Joao could return to partner Sone Aluko in attack.
Veljko Paunovic will also be without George Puscas (knock), Andy Yiadom (knee), Felipe Araruna (knee), and John Swift (hamstring).
Again, Daniel Farke will be without his number one goalkeeper, Tim Krul, as he nurses a thigh injury.
Also absent will be Adam Idah (ligament), Bali Mumba (ligament), Xavi Quintilla (hip), Onel Hernandez (groin), and Sam Byram (hamstring).
Reading possible starting lineup:
Cabral; Richards, Moore, Morrison, Esteves; Laurent, Rinomhota; Olise, Semedo, Aluko; Joao
Norwich City possible starting lineup:
McGovern; Sorensen, Gibson, Hanley, Aarons; Rupp, Skipp; Placheta, Stiepermann, Buendia; Pukki
We say: Reading 2-2 Norwich City
Both sides' bright start to the campaign means that they can start entertaining thoughts of promotion to the Premier League, and this could well be a cracking game with goals at both ends. The in-form Pukki will lead City's charge, but we expect both sides to cancel each other out, ending with the spoils being shared.
Top betting 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 Norwich City win with a probability of 40.37%. A win for Reading had a probability of 33.08% and a draw had a probability of 26.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Norwich City win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.51%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.56%) and 0-2 (7.13%). The likeliest Reading win was 1-0 (9.31%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.62%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with an 8.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Norwich City would win this match.
