Having ended a run of three straight Championship defeats in midweek, Queens Park Rangers host Preston North End at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on Saturday.
The visitors travel south on the back of five consecutive league draws, which have seen them sink to 15th place in the table ahead of the weekend's action.
Match preview
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Starting the 2021-22 season with a fine run of six matches unbeaten, QPR were among the early front-runners in the Championship. However, their form during September slumped significantly to leave them without a league win since August 28 before they met Birmingham City on Tuesday.
They managed to come out on top after a relatively even affair in terms of possession and shots on target, as a goal in each half from midfielder Ilias Chair put them in the driving seat and they saw out the game to seal a long-awaited three points.
As Mark Warburton's side had previously fallen to three successive 2-1 defeats, that leaves them just outside the playoff places and poised to kickstart their season with another success on Saturday.
The Rs have conceded 14 league goals so far, which underlines why they have failed to push further up the standings, but they at least managed to post a clean sheet in midweek, which satisfied Warburton, who commended his side's efforts after the game.
With their next task being to beat a team without a win for weeks, the West London outfit are certainly favourites for another victory, but they could not overturn Preston across their two encounters last term, when the Lancastrians won in the capital and held their visitors to a draw at home.
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After losing their opening three games of the season, Preston have since gone on to be unbeaten in their last seven Championship fixtures, following a mid-August loss at Huddersfield. Unfortunately for the Lilywhites though, only two of those seven outings have resulted in victories - and none of the last five.
Following a goalless draw with Birmingham City last weekend, on Tuesday night Frankie McAvoy's men met Stoke City at Deepdale, where they fell behind to a sixth-minute strike from the visitors.
Though they replied later in the first half with a Ben Whiteman free-kick equaliser, Preston were prevented from claiming maximum points, and they ultimately shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
In fact, goalkeeper Daniel Iversen was called upon several times to keep the scores level and help his side pick up the point which now puts them 15th in the table.
While McAvoy has made his side tough to beat, he is acutely aware that they must pose more of a threat going forward if they are to rise above such mid-table mediocrity this season - ideally starting on Saturday.
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Team News
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QPR are expected to still be without Sam Field, Sam McCallum and Lee Wallace on Saturday, so Yoann Barbet or Chris Willock will most probably deputise at left wing-back.
As Rangers manager Mark Warburton had Jordy de Wijs back on the bench against Birmingham after suffering an injury last weekend, the Dutch defender may be brought back into the three-man rearguard. Captain Stefan Johansen has also been struggling with a hamstring issue and is a major concern too.
There are few doubts about the hosts' front two though, as Charlie Austin and Lyndon Dykes are set to be paired again at the head of a 3-4-1-2 formation. Andre Gray should start on the bench, ready to make a second-half impact if required.
For Preston, meanwhile, manager Frankie McAvoy is not a fan of changing his starting lineup without good cause, having retained the same XI for their five games preceding Tuesday's clash with Stoke. He is still to decide on whether Ched Evans, Matthew Olosunde and Tom Barkhuizen - all recently returned to training - are ready to be involved, but Connor Wickham's hamstring problem rules him out.
Andrew Hughes, though, could be back in defence after being replaced by Greg Cunningham last time out following a toe injury, while Jordan Storey has been plagued by a back issue but is still in line to retain his place.
McAvoy saw Scott Sinclair return to his squad at the weekend, though the ex-Swansea forward was an unused substitute in both of the last two matches and is expected to be benched once again on Saturday - with Sean Maguire and Emil Riis favoured up front once more.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Barbet, Dickie, Dunne; Odubajo, Ball, Dozzell, Willock; Chair; Austin, Dykes
Preston North End possible starting lineup:
Iverson; Storey, Bauer, Hughes; Van Den Berg, Whiteman, Johnson, Ledson, Earl; Riis, Maguire
We say: Queens Park Rangers 1-0 Preston North End
Having scored in each league game this term, QPR are set to continue that run on home soil, plus keep a second straight clean sheet into the bargain.
Meeting an often toothless Preston side, the hosts are capable of keeping the back door shut and can utilise a number of experienced attacking options at the other end.
Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
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 42.07%. A win for Preston North End had a probability of 31.45% and a draw had a probability of 26.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Queens Park Rangers win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.81%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.74%) and 2-0 (7.51%). The likeliest Preston North End win was 0-1 (9.06%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.58%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 2.4% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Queens Park Rangers would win this match.
