After losing 1-0 at Blackpool last weekend, Fulham bounced back with an emphatic 4-1 win over Birmingham City on Wednesday night.
Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice, while Denis Odoi and Harry Wilson also got on the scoresheet as Marco Silva’s side reinforced their promotion credentials at St. Andrew’s.
It is unsurprising that Fulham have both the best attack (17 goals scored) and the joint-best defence (five goals conceded) in the Championship, and they are unlikely to stray too far from the top two this season.
The Cottagers remain unbeaten at home in 2021-22, having taken seven points from nine games at Craven Cottage, conceding just once.
That is bad news for Reading, who have lost all three of their away games this season and have not won any of their last nine matches on the road since beating Rotherham United at the end of February.
On Tuesday night, the Royals won for the first time in five games as they beat fellow strugglers Peterborough United 3-1 at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
Stream Links ➠ Stream 1 HD ¦ Stream 2 HD ¦Stream 3 HD
John Swift continued his impressive early season form with a superb free-kick and Watford loanee Tom Dele-Bashiru netted his first two goals for the club.
Veljko Paunovic’s side have the joint-worst defence in the Championship with 17 goals conceded, but at the other end of the pitch only Fulham and Queens Park Rangers have scored more goals than Reading (13).
The Royals won on their last visit to Craven Cottage, as Swift and Charlie Adam netted in a 2-1 victory on New Year’s Day in 2020
