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

Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers continue their quest to earn Premier League promotion when they meet in the Championship on Saturday, December 13.

Both teams enter this gameweek on the back of positive spells and will be hoping to secure maximum points to aid their respective targets this season.

Match preview

Middlesbrough have been through a torrid time this season - losing manager Rob Edwards to Wolves - despite him signing a three-year contract with the club in June this year.

The hierarchy had to reluctantly let him go and accept compensation for losing their mentor, but it has not worked out terribly since.

Boro’s title charge is still very much alive under new boss Kim Hellberg, who joined from Swedish first-tier side Hammarby.

Hellberg was present when the hosts lost 4-2 to current leaders Coventry City at the Riverside, extending the deficit between the clubs to 10 points.

However, after three games in charge, the Swede has delivered maximum points, and now reduced the gap to just five points, after Boro’s midweek victory away to Charlton Athletic.

The new boss, though, is not concerned about the Championship title race yet, and is purely focused on the next task at hand - beating Queens Park Rangers this weekend.

History suggests the hosts are destined for three points, having won the last three head-to-heads.

The visitors have endured a topsy-turvy season, one that has seen them excellent in patches and then fall by the wayside in others.

Rangers started their league campaign with one point from three matches, which included a 7-1 humbling at the hands of Coventry.

Doubts were cast over manager Julien Stephan’s adaptability to the English game, but his team responded with four triumphs in six outings, which was then followed by four defeats in their next five league games.

That type of inconsistency is difficult when maintaining a challenge for the playoffs, but for now, it appears that QPR are in a strong patch of form.

After leading 1-0 against Birmingham City in midweek, Rangers conceded in stoppage time, about halfway through the seven added minutes.

Instead of sulking, Stephan’s men searched for the winner, and they were rewarded in the 96th minute, when Kieran Morgan snatched the points for the R’s.

The visitors will need that type of inspired performance if they are to unsettle Boro’s momentum and their quest to hunt down Coventry.

Middlesbrough Championship form:

Queens Park Rangers Championship form:

Team News

Boro will be without the services of Dael Fry, who scored in his last club appearance, as he is battling an injury, while Aidan Morris is also dealing with an issue, and Darragh Lenihan is a long-term absentee with an Achilles problem.

Hellberg reserved special praise for Callum Brittain, who was brilliant in midweek, and has been consistently performing since his summer switch from Blackburn Rovers.

Brittain did a stellar job in containing Charlton’s Tyreece Campbell, but it was his crucial interception that sparked the counterattack for Boro’s second goal on the night.

Top scorer Morgan Whittaker notched up seven goals in the Championship this season, five of them coming in each of his last five outings.

QPR have a few injury concerns of their own, with Sam Field, Rayan Kolli and Ziyad Larkeche all ruled out of the trip to the Riverside, while Paul Smyth faces a late fitness test ahead of this encounter.

Stephan praised his team’s spirit after their last-gasp winner against Birmingham, but highlighted youngster Morgan’s role, alluding to the fact that he is being deployed at right-back for now, but his long-term future is in midfield.

However, the former Tottenham man may have to accept a place in the back line again here.

Frontman Rumarn Burrell is the Hoops’ primary threat, as he tops the club’s scoring charts in the league with nine goals, netting three goals in his last three league matches.

Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:

Brynn; Brittain, Jones, Targett, Bangura; Hackney, Gilbert; Whittaker, Brown, Burgzorg; Conway

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:

Nardi; Mbengue, Dunne, Cook, Norrington-Davies; Varane, Madsen; Dembele, Saito, Chair; Burrell

We say: Middlesbrough 2-1 Queens Park Rangers

The home side are riding the wave of the new manager bounce at the moment, and the players are responding to the Swedish boss.

Boro’s record against QPR shows that they have hardly been troubled by the Hoops in recent meetings, with their last defeat at home to this opposition coming two years ago.

Furthermore, the visitors have shown that they can completely switch off their form at any stage in the season, which is why taking three points from the second-placed team is improbable.

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