Norwich currently lie in 10th, five places above Reading, who have disappointed in the Championship. There have been periods of good form for both teams, but they come into this game after three wins in 10 games between them.

Last week both teams saw a player sent off; Norwich in their frenetic 3-3 draw, Bradley Johnson saw red after two bookable offences, and Alex Pearce got a straight red just before half-time during a bad day at the office in which he also scored an own goal. Both these players will miss the game through suspension, but there are no other major absentees.

Two young English talents have been the standout performers for these two clubs, with Nathan Redmond setting Carrow Road alight with his pace and skill deployed on the left, right and through the middle. He has registered four assists, and has the same number of Man of the Match awards, and achieved both of those in his last game, playing on the right of a diamond, and as the game progressed in a more advanced role.

Jordan Obita has seen steady improvement as this season has worn on, and the versatile England U21 international will have something to prove as he travels to East Anglia at the weekend. He has seen improvement and he was especially effective against Blackpool, where the “Berkshire Neymar” stood out as a promising young talent where he gave an assist to take his tally up to four for the season deployed at left back, although he has also played on the left of midfield, in an advanced central role as well as a cameo up front.

Jordan Obita has a bright future

Norwich have had several consistent performers that have been helped by Neil Adams not rotating the squad as much as other managers would with such a packed fixture list in the football league these days. Adams has set his team up to play in either a 4-2-3-1 system or a 4-4-2 variant including the diamond and playing his wide men more narrowly to find costless scoring strikers Lewis Grabban and Cameron Jerome who have six and eight respectively. Those two will inject pace if they play together against a slow Reading defence without suspended Alex Pearce and former captain Sean Morrison, who has been sorely missed in central defence after his transfer to Cardiff in the summer.

Reading will hope that they can grab three much needed points as they seek to climb back up the table and catch up to the Canaries who are six points above them as they go into a packed Christmas schedule where seasons are made or broken. Nigel Adkins has been playing a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1 with Oliver Norwood being the mainstay in that midfield. Reading will hope Simon Cox and Glen Murray are firing on all cylinders, and they have shown sparks of what they can do this season with Cox scoring twice and picking up a Man of the Match award against Rotherham in Reading’s spirited 3-0 win.

The Canaries go into this match as favourites but the Royals should put up a fight and show that they can return to the top-flight in seasons to come. Nathan Redmond - Jordan Obita should be an interesting battle within the war, but on current form it is likely the man in yellow will come out on top against a young player still learning the ropes of being a full-back.

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