Reading will be hoping that their form has turned a corner following an impressive 3-1 win over fellow promotion challengers Bristol City on Saturday.
The fifth-placed Royals now travel to Sheffield Wednesday, who sit second from bottom and are yet to win under new boss Tony Pulis.
Match preview
© Reuters
Veljko Paunovic described Reading's win over Bristol City as a "complete performance" that ranked among the best since he took over as manager in September.
Goals from Ovie Ejaria, Yakou Meite and Lucas Joao earned the Royals victory for the first time in six matches, and left them just a point off the automatic promotion places.
The team's winless run going into the game – which led to them dropping from first to sixth – had cast doubt over their promotion credentials, but Saturday was a reminder of the quality in their side.
The Berkshire outfit will now head to South Yorkshire in a confident mood as they seek a first away win since the end of October.
© Reuters
Opponents Sheffield Wednesday have only won once at home this season, and drew 0-0 with Stoke City at Hillsborough on Saturday.
Tony Pulis praised the attitude of his team following the game, but admitted that they had to improve going forward.
The Owls have scored just two goals in their last eight games and currently sit four points adrift of safety.
Conceding goals is not too much of a concern – only five other sides in the division have let in fewer – but Wednesday struggle to firstly create and then score chances.
A 3-0 victory for Reading at Hillsborough last season was the first time they had beaten Wednesday in seven attempts.
Sheffield Wednesday Championship form: LWDLDD
Reading Championship form: LLLLDW
Team News
© Reuters
Wednesday's problems in front of goal are not helped by the fact that Josh Windass remains suspended and Jack Marriott is out injured for the foreseeable future.
In defence, Dominic Iorfa is in contention to return to the side after missing the last three games with a muscle injury.
Veljko Paunovic will be tempted to name an unchanged team after Reading's performance against Bristol City, but will also be cautious of putting too much strain on his players as the busy fixture list continues.
Tom Holmes was particularly impressive at right-back and will continue to keep Tomas Esteves out of the side, while Michael Olise showed his worth in the number 10 role over the less creative Alfa Semedo.
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Wildsmith; Palmer, Lees, Borner, Odubajo; Luongo, Pelupessy, Bannan; Harris, Paterson, Reach
Reading possible starting lineup:
Rafael; Holmes, Morrison, Moore, Richards; Rinomhota, Laurent; Meite, Olise, Ejaria; Joao
We say: Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Reading
The win over Bristol City should give Reading a lot of confidence as they travel to Hillsborough. They will know that if they are to be serious promotion contenders then they need to beat a struggling side like Wednesday. The Owls could be hard to break down, but they are unlikely to pose much attacking threat to the Royals either.
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 Sheffield Wednesday win with a probability of 39.76%. A win for Reading had a probability of 32.31% and a draw had a probability of 27.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sheffield Wednesday win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.95%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.2%) and 2-0 (7.47%). The likeliest Reading win was 0-1 (10.49%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.11%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.1% likelihood.
