Reading play host to Bristol City in the Championship on Tuesday evening looking to build on their victory at home to Preston North End at the weekend.
While the Royals recorded their first win of the season on Saturday, Bristol City make the trip to the Madejski Stadium having not prevailed in any of their three outings in all competitions.
Match preview
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Despite having pushed hard for a playoff spot last season, the majority of Reading supporters would be delighted with consolidation this time around given their situation off the pitch.
Nevertheless, there will be optimism at the Madejski Stadium now that they have gotten three points on the board against a struggling Preston outfit.
Anything less than three points would have only increased concerns about a year of fighting to avoid survival, but the Royals will retain their spot in the Championship in comfortable fashion if they can keep their best players fit.
While Lucas Joao remains the key man for Veljko Paunovic, the Serbian requires the likes of Femi Azeez and Ethan Bristow to develop into regular members of the squad.
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As far as Bristol City are concerned, they make the trip to Berkshire having failed to emerge victorious in three games in which they were arguably the favourites.
On the back of a draw with newly-promoted Blackpool and penalty-shootout defeat to Forest Green Rovers in the EFL Cup, the Robins succumbed to a 2-1 reverse at Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Nigel Pearson would have been pleased with how his players fought their way back into the game at the Riverside Stadium, but another setback has left their manager desperately searching for answers.
Despite being handed a long-term contract in the summer, Pearson now has just two wins from 17 matches, a record which cannot be extended into the autumn..
While the Bristol City hierarchy will be prepared to give the former Leicester City man some time, they will not want to become embroiled in a relegation battle given the calibre of players at the club.
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Team News
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Barring any late fitness issues, Paunovic is likely to stick with the same Reading players which started against Preston.
While George Puscas is an alternative to Bristow, Tom Dele-Bashiru will have to wait for an opportunity after his loan switch from Watford.
Pearson may take the chance to recall Tomas Kalas to the Bristol City side after two appearances on the substitutes' bench.
The Czech Republic international could replace either Zak Vyner at right-back or Rob Atkinson in the middle of the backline.
Han-Noah Massengo, Saikou Janneh and Nahki Wells are all pushing for starting roles in the final third.
Reading possible starting lineup:
Cabral; Yiadom, Morrison, Moore, McIntyre; Rinomhota, Laurent; Azeez, Swift, Bristow; Joao
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Vyner, Baker, Kalas, Dasilva; James, King; Weimann, Scott, Palmer; Martin
We say: Reading 2-1 Bristol City
Even at this stage of the season, Pearson will recognise that he can ill-afford many more games without a win. However, with the pressure now off Reading to a certain extent, we are predicting a narrow triumph for the Royals.
Darren Plant
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 46.86%. A draw had a probability of 27.3% and a win for Bristol City had a probability of 25.86%.
The most likely scoreline for a Reading win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.26%) and 2-1 (8.82%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.74%), while for a Bristol City win it was 0-1 (9.2%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 1.3% likelihood.
