Brentford face Reading at Select Car Leasing Stadium in round three of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night (8pm kick-off BST, live on Sky Sports+).

Keith Andrews' side are unbeaten in four Premier League games following Saturday's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, while Reading were beaten 2-1 at Cambridge United after three successive wins in all competitions.

Analysis, team news, match officials and more - here's everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Pre-match analysis

Stephen Gillett, Playmaker Stats: Brentford face early test against fast-starting Reading

Brentford make the short trip to Select Car Leasing Stadium to take on Reading in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night - no doubt aware that their League One opponents pack a punch on their own patch.

Leam Richardson's Royals currently sit 14th in the third tier after a 2-1 reverse away at Cambridge last weekend, but have hit three or more goals in exactly half of their games across all competitions this term.

Spearheaded by League One's current top scorer Jack Marriott, the Berkshire outfit average 17.4 shots per 90 this season and have scored more goals at home (11) than any other team in the division. Across the EFL, only Championship sides Southampton (15) and West Ham United (14) have been more prolific on home turf.

With five of their 12 league goals (42 per cent) scored on the counter attack, the Royals seem well-equipped to cause problems on the break - with Marriott snaffling two strikes from such situations already.

The Bees will also need to keep an eye on former Brentford B winger Kyreece Lisbie, who ranks among League One's most creative players with three assists and 11 key passes to his name this season.

Still unbeaten during the current campaign, Brentford travel to Berkshire knowing their hosts will be desperate to cause a cup upset, and Keith Andrews will want his side to switch on early - particularly given Reading's penchant for starting well.

Across their six league games this season, the Royals have scored more first-half goals (eight) than any other side in League One - six of those arriving in the 15 minutes leading up to half-time. What's more, Reading have conceded just one goal themselves prior to the interval.

The Bees hit Championship side Birmingham City for six in a 6-1 win at St Andrew's in the second round, with summer signing Callum Wilson netting his first goal for the club, and they will hope their mobility and physicality in forward areas can trouble their hosts on Tuesday.

Reading's defensive numbers, however, suggest they will make the Bees work for their opportunities. The Royals have conceded fewer shots per game (nine) than any team in League One this season and Richardson will hope his backline can blunt Brentford's attacking threat.

Scout report

Dan Long, Sky Sports: Royals looking to turn promise into promotion

In the summer of 2025, former Wycombe Wanderers owner Rob Couhig and Todd Trosclair completed their takeover of Reading.

Purchasing the club from disqualified former owner Dai Yongge had been a complex process, and it took two attempts to finally get it over the line.

The Royals had been in a precarious position before that and, while they were not out of the woods financially, their immediate future was secure.

In spite of the way things were starting to progress off the pitch, to begin with, that was not the case on it.

Noel Hunt's side did not win any of their first five League One games in 2025/26 and, when they had only won three of their first 14, Couhig announced the decision to terminate his contract.

"My duty is to make the decisions I believe give this club the best chance of long-term success," he said in a statement on the club's official website. "This is one of those decisions - not an easy one, but a necessary one."

On 28 October, two days after Hunt's exit, in came Leam Richardson. He signed an 18-month deal and arrived with pedigree, having steered Wigan Athletic to the League One title in 2021/22 with 92 points.

Before long, Reading were on the right track and looking upwards after 11 wins in his first 22 league games in charge.

A season that had begun with them looking over their shoulders had turned into something more and, with eight games to play, Richardson's side found themselves in the play-off places.

The form across the final 11 games was nightmarish, however. Reading won only twice, collecting nine points from a possible 33, and their play-off hopes evaporated.

They finished 12th in the end, 12 points behind Stevenage, who finished sixth.

"When I first came in, it was always going to be a big project. It was not going to happen overnight," said Richardson afterwards.

"We're going to address things internally and externally because this club needs it and demands it. We've got a big transfer window coming, we've got a big summer coming.

"It's my job and I'm full of optimism for it, I know what this league takes and how to move forward. That's what we'll be concentrating on."

A big window was promised, and that's what Reading had.

They sold academy product Kelvin Ehibhationmhan to Danish side Horsens, before bringing in former Brentford B player Kyreece Lisbie, Udoka-Godwin-Malife and Jamie Reid, as well as highly rated England Under-21s international George Earthy from West Ham.

Former Hannover defender Josh Knight joined on loan from Portsmouth, while Josh Stokes arrived on loan from Bristol City.

Now, the season has not panned out exactly as Richardson would have hoped so far, but there have certainly been encouraging signs. They have won two penalty shoot-outs in cup competitions and thumped five past Mansfield Town in League One earlier this month.

Last time out, they took the lead against early high-flyers Cambridge, but lost 2-1.

"We won't hang around on the result for too long because we're in a good place at the minute and we'll certainly build from it," Richardson said.

It is no secret Reading want more this season. In Hot off the Press, Ramy Abou-Setta said "they believe they are a Championship team".

From the Football League's divisional rebrand in 2004/05 until their relegation in 2022/23, they had not spent a single season below the second tier. This season will be their fourth in succession in the third.

Now it's down to Richardson and his men to turn promise into promotion and end that run.

In the dugout

Leam Richardson

Leam Richardson started his career at Blackburn Rovers in the mid-1990s and made his one and only appearance for Rovers against Leeds United - his hometown club, where he used to have a season ticket as a child - in a 1-0 Worthington Cup defeat at Elland Road in October 1999.

At the end of that season, he made the half-hour trip south to join Bolton Wanderers. He made 15 appearances in 2000/01, then made his Premier League debut - ironically, also against Leeds - in September 2001.

The defender spent the best part of the next two seasons out on loan in Division Two, first at Notts County, then at Blackpool.

In the summer of 2003, he joined the latter on a permanent basis and went on to play 63 times in all competitions, scoring once.

Following his release, he joined Conference side Accrington Stanley and played a key role as they won the title and were promoted to the Football League for the first time since the club was re-established in 1968.

Richardson went on to make 126 appearances for Stanley in all, with the last coming in December 2011. He stepped up to become caretaker after John Coleman's exit the following month and was appointed permanently in November 2012, a matter of weeks before his 33rd birthday.

However, in April 2013, he moved on to Chesterfield to become Paul Cook's assistant and took up the same role under Cook at Portsmouth in 2015 and at Wigan in 2017.

Richardson remained at Wigan after Cook's departure in the summer of 2020 and took caretaker charge during a turbulent period for the club.

After Cook took over at Ipswich Town the following March, Richardson stayed with the Latics rather than reuniting with his former boss and, in April 2021, signed a three-year deal to become manager.

His side won the Sky Bet League One title in 2021/22, but after a poor start to life back in the Championship, he was sacked in November 2022.

A four-month stint at Rotherham United, between December 2023 and April 2024, came next and, just over 18 months later, he signed a contract running until the summer of 2027 at Reading.

The game plan

With Ramy Abou-Setta, Reading Chronicle

Ramy Abou-Setta, Reading reporter for the Reading Chronicle, explains what Brentford can expect from Leam Richardson's side.

"Richardson plays a 4-2-3-1 as his staple formation," he told brentfordfc.com. "It can change in attacking phases to a 3-4-2-1 or a 3-4-3, depending on how he wants to shape his attack; whether he wants more wide players or whether he wants the no.10 to act as a second striker.

"In possession, they will play with three at the back and out of possession, they will play with four at the back. He loves using the full-backs to help out in attack and be the extra man in the box or an extra passing option.

"The ball is always set to go to Marriott, but now they have Jamie Reid and Jacob Brown as well and they are completely different profiles of striker, so the tactics change depending on who the no.9 is.

"But in terms of the team around the striker, that does not tend to change. They are set in terms of how Richardson wants them to play; it is literally just a straight swap when it comes to who is playing up front."

Team news

Furo ruled out; Fredrick set to be involved

Kaye Furo will miss Brentford's Carabao Cup round three tie against Reading after undergoing an operation on Monday morning.

Furo had been in line to start at Select Car Leasing Stadium, but picked up an injury in training in the build-up to the game.

“I would’ve started him against Reading because I felt he deserved it and was in that type of space,” said Keith Andrews in his pre-match press conference.

The Bees head coach also confirmed that centre-back Benjamin Fredrick is expected to be involved.

“He hasn’t had a lot of football but has come back in the last couple of weeks,” Andrews added. “We decided not to play him in the B-team game on Sunday to make sure he was in the right place to be available for our game against Reading.

“I anticipate he’ll be involved.”

Match officials

Nield to take charge at SCL

Referee: Tom Nield

Assistants: Sam Lewis and Hugh Gilroy

Fourth official: Samuel Allison

Tom Nield will take charge of Brentford's Carabao Cup round three tie against Reading on Tuesday night.

Nield refereed 27 games across all competitions last season, showing 100 yellow cards and one red.

The official has overseen four fixtures so far this term, including Championship meetings between Swansea City and Sheffield United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Stoke City, and Charlton Athletic and Queens Park Rangers.

Last meeting

Reading 1 Brentford 3 (Sky Bet Championship, 10 February 2021)

Brentford moved to the top of the Championship with a 3-1 victory over Reading at Madejski Stadium.

Lucas João's penalty gave the Royals the lead midway through the first half, before Josh Dasilva levelled nine minutes before the interval.

The contest remained level until the closing stages, when Dasilva struck his second of the night in the 86th minute and Ivan Toney added a third two minutes later.

The victory extended Thomas Frank's side's unbeaten league run to 21 games and moved the Bees two points clear at the top of the Championship.