Two sides who have had very different starts to the season in the Championship meet on Tuesday night as Reading host Wycombe Wanderers.
The Royals sit second in the table – behind leaders Bristol City on just goals scored – while Wycombe are 23rd and only being kept off the bottom by Sheffield Wednesday's points deduction.
Match preview
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Reading's 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday ended their four-game winning run in the Championship but ensured they remained as one of just three sides still unbeaten.
It was also their fourth clean sheet of the campaign, giving them the joint-best defensive record in the division along with Watford.
Veljko Paunovic may be confident of another shutout on Tuesday night as Wycombe have netted just once so far this season – Scott Kashket's early goal against Millwall on Saturday.
It was the first ever goal that the Chairboys had scored in the second tier, but they still fell to a fifth straight defeat as the Lions came from behind to win 2-1.
Their recent away record is not a pretty one as they have won just twice in their last 12 games on the road, although crucially one of those was a 4-1 victory at Fleetwood Town in last season's League One playoffs.
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Reading (7.8) and Wycombe (8.2) rank 24th and 23rd respectively for average shots taken per game in the Championship, a remarkable statistic considering where both teams place in the table.
The Royals' impressive start to the season – their best since 1985 – has come very much as a surprise considering that Paunovic was only appointed a week before the campaign began.
This fixture is actually somewhat of a local derby – Reading and Wycombe are both each other's closest club in the current top four divisions of English football.
They have not met in the league since February 2002 but drew 1-1 in the first round of the Carabao Cup last season before Reading won the tie on penalties.
Reading Championship form: WWWWD
Reading form (all competitions): WLWWWD
Wycombe Wanderers Championship form: LLLLL
Wycombe Wanderers form (all competitions): DLLLLL
Team News
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With a busy few weeks coming up, Veljko Paunovic will be torn between playing the same side to keep Reading's early season momentum going and making changes to keep his squad fresh.
Lucas Joao appears the most likely player to be rested on Tuesday following a recent injury, with George Puscas in line to start up front.
New signing Tomas Esteves may be seen as the most natural choice at right-back but it would be harsh to drop Tom Holmes after a couple of strong performances.
Gareth Ainsworth is hoping to welcome back a number of injured players in the next few weeks as he desperately tries to get points on the board.
Ryan Tafazolli, Dominic Gape, Alex Pattison and Uche Ikpeazu have all missed recent fixtures but are on the verge of a return.
38-year-old Adebayo Akinfenwa made his first ever Championship appearance as a substitute at the weekend but is likely to continue to be used off the bench rather than as a starter.
Reading possible starting lineup:
Rafael; Holmes, Moore, Morrison, Richards; Laurent, Rinomhota; Meite, Olise, Ejaria; Puscas
Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Allsopp; Grimmer, Stewart, Knight, Jacobson; Wheeler, Freeman, Thompson, Horgan; Kashket, Samuel
We say: Reading 2-0 Wycombe Wanderers
Reading are one of the worst teams that goal-shy Wycombe could have hoped to face as they continue to search for their first points in the Championship. A sixth consecutive defeat seems likely for the Chairboys as the Royals continue to march on.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data
Olly Allen
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 40%. A win for Wycombe Wanderers had a probability of 31.47% and a draw had a probability of 28.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Reading win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.67%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.06%) and 2-0 (7.71%). The likeliest Wycombe Wanderers win was 0-1 (10.88%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.24%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Reading in this match.
