Reading and Peterborough United will both look to put poor runs of form to an end on Tuesday, when they clash at the Madejski Stadium.
The hosts broke a three-game losing run with a 3-3 draw against Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, while their visitors suffered a 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Sheffield United.
Match preview
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After a sustained push for the playoffs last season, eventually finishing in seventh spot, Reading narrowly lost 3-2 to Stoke City in the opening game of the new campaign, before they bounced back with a 2-1 home victory over Preston North End thanks to goals from Femi Azeez and John Swift.
Veljko Paunovic's side then suffered a run of three straight defeats in England's second tier, falling to Bristol City, Coventry City and Huddersfield Town, as they conceded nine goals in that time while scoring three at the other end.
Following the recent international break, the Royals faced a tough test at home to a confident QPR side on Saturday, and a Michael Morrison own goal saw them fall behind.
Reading managed to turn the game on its head though, as Swift hit a hat-trick to put his side 3-1 ahead, only for Andre Gray to pull a goal back with 10 minutes to go and Stefan Johansen to hit an equaliser in added time, forcing Paunovic's men to settle for a point.
Despite taking on a side who have had a strong start to the season, the Royals will certainly feel that they dropped two points in that outing, and will be desperate to bounce back and climb the table with a victory on home turf on Tuesday.
They take on a Peterborough side in a similar situation, as the visitors go in search of an elusive victory after three consecutive league defeats.
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After winning promotion from League One last season, the Posh began life back in the Championship with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Luton Town.
Darren Ferguson's men quickly bounced back though, as a 91st-minute equaliser from Harrison Burrows and a 100th-minute Siriki Dembele winner saw them overturn a deficit to hand Derby County a 2-1 defeat.
They were then on the wrong end of late drama, as goals in the 83rd and 96th minutes from Cardiff City defender Aden Flint saw the Welsh side come from 2-0 down to snatch a point after Burrows and Dembele had put the Posh ahead.
THat was followed by three straight defeats in the second tier, falling to Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion before being thrashed by Sheffield United last time out.
A Jack Marriott equaliser saw them go into the break level after Iliman Ndiaye's opener for the Blades, but goals from John Fleck, Ben Osborn and Morgan Gibbs-White took the game out of their hands, before Ndiaye and Osborn sealed braces and Jonson Clarke-Harris netted a consolation goal from the penalty spot to see the game finish 6-2.
With both sides sitting in the bottom three with four points from six games, they will be equally keen to return to winning ways and quickly get their campaigns up and running.
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Team News
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Reading have an unenviable injury list to deal with, as the likes of Tom McIntyre, Andy Rinomhota, and new signings Scott Dann and Danny Drinkwater are all ruled out.
First-choice goalkeeper Rafael Cabral will miss out with a recently-sustained broken hand, leaving Luke Southwood to deputise between the sticks.
Forwards Yakou Meite and Lucas Joao will also continue spells on the sidelines, leaving George Puscas to lead the line.
As a result, plenty of attacking responsibility will continue to fall on John Swift, who hit a hat-trick on Saturday.
The return of winger Ovie Ejaria does give a huge boost to Paunovic's ranks, and he should again start in an attacking trio behind the lone striker.
Peterborough are without centre-backs Mark Beevers and Nathan Thompson, as the pair continue to recover from injuries.
Harrison Burrows and Siriki Dembele will both play key roles going forward, having each hit goals in the clashes with Derby County and Cardiff City.
Striker Jonson Clarke-Harris completes a threatening front line, after he hit 31 league goals to fire them to promotion last season.
Reading possible starting lineup:
Southwood; Yiadom, Moore, Morrison, Rahman; Laurent, Dele-Bashiru; Halilovic, Swift, Ejaria; Puscas
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Pym; Kent, Knight, Butler; Ward, Coventry, Grant, Burrows; Szmodics; Dembele, Clarke-Harris
We say: Reading 3-2 Peterborough United
In a clash between two sides who thrive more going forward than defensively, we certainly see this being a high-scoring encounter, and give the slight edge to the hosts.
Even with a long injury list, the Royals are dangerous on the break, especially with Ejaria returning to join the likes of Swift and Puscas, and we see them having enough to narrowly get past the newly-promoted side.
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 37.75%. A win for Peterborough United had a probability of 35.41% and a draw had a probability of 26.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Reading win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.31%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.21%) and 2-0 (6.63%). The likeliest Peterborough United win was 0-1 (9.92%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.75%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 3.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Reading would win this match.
