Brentford will be hoping to extend their post-quarantine form to three wins in three away to Reading on Tuesday night, in an attempt to reach automatic promotion to the Premier League.
Sitting in 15th place, Reading will need to win all their remaining games to be in with a chance of reaching the playoffs, as currently, they sit 11 points below 6th-place Cardiff City with seven games to go.
Brentford returned to league action with a 2-0 away win against Fulham and a 1-0 home victory against West Bromwich Albion – both teams who are battling for promotion. This has put the Bees in 3rd place, and a win on Tuesday would put them two points below 2nd place West Bromwich Albion.
Reading have amassed one point from their two games since the restart, including a 1-1 draw with Stoke City and a 2-1 defeat to Derby County. A victory for the Royals on Tuesday night would ease the pressure of dropping to the relegation zone and possibly give Mark Bowen’s men motivation to push for the playoffs.
Brentford have the best goal difference in the league (+34) and have scored the most goals of the campaign so far (67), helped massively by joint top-scorer Ollie Watkins (23). If they continue this form then they could be too strong for this Reading side, however, box-to-box midfielder John Swift has contributed 10 assists for the Royals, two off top spot so far, so he could be a thorn in the Bees side.
Their previous meeting saw Brentford take a 1-0 victory at the Griffin Park, with Ollie Watkins claiming the only goal of the game.
Team News
Brentford are unlikely to make any changes following their fine run of form, including wins and clean sheets against both Fulham and WBA.
For Reading, centre back Matt Miazga sits out his first of three games following his red card against Derby Country in their previous game. There may be a switch-up in attack with Sam Baldock looking to replace George Puscas.
My verdict
Brentford are an organised and resilient team, and after beating two close rivals since the restart, I believe their momentum will see them ease past Reading.
Match Preview written by Seb Rowland