Preview: Queens Park Rangers vs. Brentford - prediction, team news, lineups

Brentford square off against London rivals Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday evening looking to respond to their first Championship defeat since October.

While the visitors remain within one point of leaders Norwich City, QPR are just five points above the relegation zone despite their resurgence during 2021.

Match preview

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Despite putting together a 21-match unbeaten streak in the Championship, Brentford had been far from perfect heading into Sunday's meeting with Barnsley.

While the 2-0 defeat to the Tykes naturally came as a surprise, it was one slow start too many for the Bees, who have made a habit of conceding early goals.

Sitting just a point adrift of new leaders Norwich, Thomas Frank will not over-react to the recent setback, but it would have suggested to the Dane that some of his players are running on empty after a relentless run of games.

Brentford have competed in 10 fixtures since January 5, with another four Championship games to be played before the end of February.

Although the weekend's defeat ended a run of scoring in 11 successive matches, Frank will be more concerned with six games having been played without keeping a clean sheet.

Narrowly losing the reverse fixture acted as the catalyst for a 10-match winless streak for QPR, leading to murmurings about the long-term future of Mark Warburton.

Despite the club now sitting within five points of relegation, recording four wins from five matches since January 12 means that Warburton should no longer have any concerns about keeping his job.

The return of forward Charlie Austin has proven pivotal, but the Hoops now look a completely different side at both ends of the pitch.

Just two goals have been conceded in their last five league fixtures, a record which they will be confident of maintaining having been given a weekend off due to the cancellation of the meeting with Rotherham United.

Queens Park Rangers Championship form: DWWLWW Queens Park Rangers form (all competitions): LWWLWW

Brentford Championship form: DWWWWL

Team News

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Macauley Bonne could replace Lyndon Dykes in the QPR attack after the latter suffered a head injury against Blackburn.

That may prove to be the only alteration as Warburton attempts to keep a settled team.

Winston Reid is in contention to make his first start for Brentford, taking the place of Mads Bech Sorensen.

Mathias Jensen and Tariqe Fosu-Henry are also in line to come back into the starting lineup.

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup: Dieng; Barbet, Dickie, Cameron; Kane, Johansen, Ball, Wallace; Chair; Bonne, Austin

Brentford possible starting lineup: Raya; Dalsgaard, Pinnock, Reid, Henry; Dasilva, Janelt, Jansen; Fosu-Henry, Toney, Canos

We say: Queens Park Rangers 1-2 Brentford

Well rested from a weekend off, we expect QPR to force the pace against opponents who must be having to deal with several fatigued players. Nevertheless, Frank has found solutions in the past, leading us to predict a spirited win for the Bees on Wednesday night.