Middlesbrough's search for their first Championship victory of the 2020-21 campaign will continue on Saturday afternoon when they head to Loftus Road to take on Queens Park Rangers.
Boro have only picked up a point from their first two league games of the season to sit 17th in the table, while QPR have collected three points from their two fixtures thus far courtesy of one win and one defeat.
Match preview
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QPR's season began with a 3-2 loss to Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Cup at the start of September, but the R's opened their Championship campaign with a 2-0 home success over Nottingham Forest.
The capital side would have been looking to build on the victory away to Coventry City last weekend, but a late goal from Kyle McFadzean handed the home side all three points in a 3-2 win.
Mark Warburton's side finished 13th in the Championship last season, 12 points outside of the playoffs, and it is going to be difficult for the team to push for the top six positions in 2020-21.
The fact that QPR have scored twice in each of their three competitive games this season but conceded three times on two occasions suggests that they are going to be a good watch this term.
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Boro, meanwhile, shared the points with Bournemouth at the Riverside Stadium in their last game on September 19, with Marcus Browne coming off the bench to net a late leveller for the home side.
Neil Warnock was absent from the touchline against the Cherries after testing positive for coronavirus and that will again be the case this weekend, with assistant manager Kevin Blackwell and first-team coach Ronnie Jepson set to remain in charge of first-team affairs.
The former Premier League club finished 17th in the Championship last season, but the supporters will be looking for a big improvement this term.
It has been a tough start to the campaign, though, losing 1-0 at Watford on September 11 in the Championship before suffering a 2-0 home defeat to Barnsley in the EFL Cup four days later.
Queens Park Rangers Championship form: WL
Queens Park Rangers form (all competitions): LWL
Middlesbrough Championship form: LD
Middlesbrough form (all competitions): LLD
Team News
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QPR's squad is in good shape at the moment in terms of injuries, and it would not be a surprise to see Warbuton keep with the XI that started against Coventry last weekend.
Lyndon Dykes has scored twice in two Championship appearances this season and should keep his spot at the tip of the attack, with Luke Amos and Ilias Chair also set to feature.
Bright Osayi-Samuel's future remains the subject of much speculation, but the 22-year-old was in the team against Coventry and should again make the XI for this match.
As for Boro, Browne's late leveller against Bournemouth last time out means that the attacker is in contention to start, although it seems likely that Ashley Fletcher and Britt Assombalonga will continue as the front two.
Warnock has no fresh injury concerns to contend with, meaning that a five-man midfield should again include George Saville, Jonny Howson and Marcus Tavernier in central positions.
There should also be a spot in the squad for new signing Chuba Akpom, who has moved to the Riverside Stadium from Greek outfit PAOK.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Lumley; Kakay, Barbet, Dickie, Wallace; Cameron, Carroll; Chair, Amos, Osayi-Samuel; Dykes
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Bettinelli; Hall, Fry, McNair; Spence, Morsy, Tavernier, Saville, Johnson; Fletcher, Assombalonga
We say: Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Middlesbrough
The two teams shared the points in the corresponding match during the 2019-20 Championship season, and we fancy another draw here. Boro will be keen to put their first victory on the board as soon as possible, but QPR have more than enough to pick up a point at Loftus Road.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:curl
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Queens Park Rangers win with a probability of 43.25%. A win for Middlesbrough had a probability of 31.55% and a draw had a probability of 25.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Queens Park Rangers win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.49%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.02%) and 2-0 (7.18%). The likeliest Middlesbrough win was 0-1 (7.87%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.91%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.9% likelihood.
