Key Battles: Reading FC v Aston Villa

Liam Moore vs Ross McCormack

Signed from Championship rivals Fulham for a reported fee of £12 million in the summer, McCormack has arguably been one of Aston Villa's better players this season. It has been a disappointing campaign so far for the Villans though, who were expecting to be pushing hard for promotion this season. Aston Villa are currently lying in 20th place, which has led to Steve Bruce taking over from the sacked Roberto Di Matteo.

McCormack is in my view is one of the most dangerous strikers in the Championship - he is a fox in the box, always trying to take advantage of certain situations. This was evident last season when the Scottish international got 21 goals in 45 appearances for Fulham, including two against Reading.

So far this season McCormack has three goals and will be looking to add to that when his side visits the Madejski Stadium.

Aiming to restrict McCormack and the rest of Villa's attacking players will be Liam Moore, who should have enough pace to give the Scotland forward a hard time. The former Leicester man should also be on an equal playing field with McCormack in terms of the aerial dual, which looks like a fascinating prospect.

Chris Gunter vs Albert Adomah

Adomah made a surprise move to Villa Park from Middlesbrough in the summer, even though his former side won promotion to the Premier League. On his day the Ghanaian can cause any side problems with his pace, trickery and the ability to deliver a good cross.

Last season Adomah got six goals and six assists in 46 appearances, however this season he hasn't made the sort of impact that he demonstrated when playing for Middleborough.

It will likely be Chris Gunter's job to stop Adomah from getting shots away and stop him from crossing the ball. It is worth noting that both Reading fullbacks have had problems in dealing with talented wingers this season. The games against Newcastle, Brighton and Derby all spring to mind, where Matt Ritchie, Anthony Knockaert  and Ikechi Anya respectively gave the Reading defence a torrid time.

If Gunter can contain Adomah this should put Reading in good shape, as they look to get to back to winning ways in front of the Reading faithful.

Yann Kermorgant vs James Chester

Like Adomah, James Chester made a surprising move to Aston Villa from the Premier League, in this case Midlands rivals West Brom last summer. In the summer he played a starring role in Wales' Euro 2016 campaign, in which the Red Dragons reached the semi-finals.

So far Chester has played all of Villa's 11 games, but has only kept three clean sheets. Although these stats suggest that Chester has not done that well this season, in my view Chester is too good for the Championship and should be playing in the Premier League.

Looking to make sure Chester does not keep a fourth clean sheet will be Yann Kermorgant. The Frenchman has only scored two goals so far this season and should expect a tough battle against defenders that have played at the highest level.

As we know, one of Kermorgant's main roles in the side is to win the aerial duels and keep things ticking over up front. With Chester known for having such a physical presence, the 6ft and a half inch centre forward will have his work cut out against an experienced ex-Premier League and current Welsh international centre-back.