Manager of the Month for September, Veljko Paunovic takes his Reading side to Teeside hoping to make it five wins from five.
Veteran Neil Warnock and his Middlesbrough side sit in 10th in the EFL Championship, but can move into the top six with a win and results going their way.
Team News
Ovie Ejaria and Lucas Joao are both in contention to start after missing the previous match.
Andy Yiadom and John Swift are both out for a number of months, with Porto loanee Tomas Esteves expected to make his debut for Reading.
George Saville and Paddy McNair will be assessed on their returns from a busy international period.
Grant Hall is expected to remain out.
Predicted lineups
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup: Bettinelli; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Spence, Tavernier, Howson, Saville, Roberts; Assombalonga, Akpom.
Reading possible starting lineup: Rafael; Esteves, Moore, Morrison, Richards; Rinomhota, Laurent; Meite, Aluko, Olise; Joao.
Ones to watch
The two week international break has served the travelling side well, with key striker Joao expected to be involved.
The former Sheffield Wednesday forward has scored five goals in four games in all competitions, but missed out against Watford due to a dislocated shoulder.
For the hosts, former Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom has scored two in two games since joining in September from Greek side PAOK.
Previous meetings
The two sides met last in July, a 2-1 win at the Madejski for Middlesbrough helping them toward Championship survival after a difficult season.
Liam Moore opened the scoring, but goals from Ashley Fletcher and Patrick Roberts, who rejoined the club on loan for this season last week, sealed the win for Warnock.
Boro did the double over Reading last season, a 1-0 win at the Riverside in September.
Overall the sides have only met 35 times, with Reading only winning nine compared to Middlesbrough's 16 victories.
Reading have lost their previous seven matches against Boro, with their last win coming in 2015.
How to Watch
The game can be purchased via either of the club websites for £10, with the fixture being streamed live on iFollow.
What the managers have said
Serbian Paunovic has nothing but admiration for promotion specialist Warnock, but hopes to inflict defeat on his this weekend.
Speaking to the club website, he said:
"He is a fantastic manager, and Middlesbrough are a fantastic team.
“He has had a great career and congratulations to him on that. But for them and for us, we have one game to think about and that’s the next game – so we have to prepare ourselves.
“We will do our job, we will always focus on ourselves – but we respect everyone.”
Warnock has been impressed with the visitors so far and think they have a good chance of having a successful season.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Warnock said:
"They've got some good players and they've spent a bit of money.
"They've got a chance of sustaining it but whether they can throughout the season you don't know because a lot of clubs start off well and just fade away after Christmas."