Monday night's Championship fixture sees Cardiff City travel to the Madejski Stadium hoping to re-establish their six-point lead in the automatic promotion race.
The Bluebirds sit in second place but Bristol City's victory on Friday night narrowed the gap to just three points, and a win for the visitors would also see them move withing two points of leaders Wolves.
Hosts Reading, though, are improving with four wins in seven, losing in that sequence only to Wolves, and are 2/1 (3.0) for the win that would see them climb into the top half for the first time since August.
Getty ImagesThe visitors are 31/20 (2.55) to record a fifth straight victory while a draw, which has occurred in 12 of the 29 Berkshire meetings between these sides, is 12/5 (3.4).
There is reason to expect a tight affair in Berkshire as Cardiff’s games average 2.2 goals - only three teams experiencing lower-scoring encounters - whilst Reading have kept clean sheets in two of their last three, so under 2.5 goals holds appeal at 8/11 (1.73).
A player who could find the net is Modou Barrow, who will be in good spirits after netting a brace last time out and can be backed at 5/2 (3.5) to score anytime, with Yann Kermorgant 11/5 (3.2) in the same market.
The one to watch for the Bluebirds is Omar Bogle, who came on at half-time to make a huge impact in the 3-1 win against Norwich last week and the price of 80/1 (81.0) on a hat-trick for the 24-year-old is tempting as he has netted in each of his last three.
Cardiff average 40% possession when they win and 45% when they fail to do so, which suggests they should relish facing the second-tier's keep-ball connoisseurs.
The prospect of a low-scoring clash and the fact that the visitors will be looking to soak up Reading pressure adds up to our best bet being the 10/3 (4.33) on a Cardiff win to nil, which has occurred in 35% of their games including three of the last four.
Cardiff City to win to nil at 10/3 (4.33) for a 1pt stake with Betfair