Queens Park Rangers welcome Brentford to Loftus Road in the Championship on Monday night as the home side look to continue their pursuit of leaders West Bromwich Albion.
Mark Warburton's side have risen to fifth in the table following a string of impressive displays but will be wary of the threat posed by Brentford, who beat Swansea City 3-0 last time out.
Match preview
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Nobody would have predicted the emergence of such an exciting QPR team this season given that the club has stumbled to 16th and 19th respectively over the past two campaigns.
Appointed over the summer, Warburton has injected a sense of vitality and invention back into this squad, encouraging players to take risks in the final third.
It was possible to notice a tangible difference from the opening day of the season - a 2-1 win away at Stoke City, which saw Eberechi Eze score an incredible solo goal to make Warburton the first QPR boss since Neil Warnock in 2010 to win his first game as manager.
The ambitious nature of that display has characterised QPR's approach in general, with the West London side often looking equally likely to dish out and concede big winning margins, as seen through how they lost 3-0 to Cardiff City and beat Blackburn Rovers 4-2 in successive games.
Remaining in the playoff spots throughout the whole season will be a challenge, but one thing about QPR has already been established since August, which is that they are an exciting team to watch.
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While QPR can claim to be notably exceeding expectations this season, Brentford will view their 2019-20 campaign so far as largely going in accordance with the script.
Having finished in the midtable comfort of 11th last season and ninth in the campaign before that, Brentford currently find themselves eight points above the relegation zone and eight points behind leaders West Brom.
It is perhaps no surprise, then, that Brentford have been in equal parts emphatic and sloppy so far this term, winning five games and losing five as well.
Buoyed by the excellent Ollie Watkins, who has eight goals since August, Brentford have recorded impressive victories over Barnsley and Derby County, yet they also have the capacity to just disappear in some games, as seen in tepid performances against Preston North End and Stoke.
Much like QPR, it is uncertain as to what you will get with this Brentford side, which makes Monday's meeting under the lights at Loftus Road one to look out for.
Recent Queens Park Rangers form: WLLWWD
Recent Brentford form: DWDLWW
Team News
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Brentford boss Thomas Frank is lucky to head into this game against QPR with no notable injuries to worry about.
For QPR, the only injury concern ahead of this encounter is a knee injury to Charlie Owens sustained last month which looks set to keep him injured for some time.
The home side will most probably start the game with strike duo Jordan Hugill and Nahki Wells, who both scored in QPR's 2-2 draw with Reading last time out.
For Brentford, Said Benrahma and Bryan Mbeumo look likely to join Watkins in attack after the trio ran riot at the Liberty Stadium last weekend.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Kelly; Rangel, Leistner, Barbet, Manning; Scowen, Cameron, Pugh, Eze; Wells, Hugill
Brentford possible starting lineup:
Raya; Dalsgaard, Jansson, Jeanvier, Henry; Jensen, Norgaard, Mokotjo; Benrahma, Mbeumo, Watkins
We say: Queens Park Rangers 2-2 Brentford
This is a hard result to call given the potential of both sides to randomly oscillate between two extremes of performance, but it is almost certain that there will be goals in this game, with both teams demonstrating impressive attacking verve since August. A back-and-forth affair, culminating in a high scoring draw, is therefore on the cards.
Leo Nieboer
