Preview: Queens Park Rangers vs Preston North End - prediction, team news, lineups

Julien Stephan will officially began his Queens Park Rangers tenure when his team play host to Preston North End in Saturday's Championship opener.

The R's ended the 2024-25 campaign in 15th position, while Preston narrowly escaped the drop with a 20th-placed finish in the table.

Match preview

Queens Park Rangers finished the 2024-25 campaign in the bottom half of the standings after winning 14, drawing 14 and losing 18 of their 46 league matches.

Marti Cifuentes officially left his post as QPR boss in June after being placed on gardening leave before the final game of the season amid links with the West Bromwich Albion job.

As it proved, Cifuentes took over the reins at recently-relegated Leicester City, while the R's have given Stephan the opportunity to work outside France for the first time in his coaching career.

Stephan, who previously worked at Rennes and Strasbourg, has seen Amadou Mbengue, Kealey Adamson, Kwame Poku, and Rumarn Burrell all join the club this summer, while Karamoko Dembele has converted his loan deal into a permanent transfer.

The R's have experienced mixed results in pre-season, winning two of their first three friendlies, before following back-to-back draws against Cardiff City and Heerenveen with a narrow defeat to Brentford.

QPR still should be confident of taking maximum points from their league opener, considering the fact that they have won each of their last four games against Preston, including 2-1 victories in both of their meetings in the 2024-25 campaign.

As for Preston, they will be looking to avoid another relegation battle after finishing just a point clear of the bottom three last season.

Paul Heckingbottom's side plummeted down the table after drawing three and losing five of their final eight matches of the campaign.

As a result, Preston have not won a Championship game since recording a 2-1 home victory over Portsmouth in March, while their most recent away league win took place against Norwich City in February.

PNE have seen the likes of Emil Riis and Freddie Woodman leave the club, but in a bid to steer clear of the drop, they have delved into the market to bolster their squad with 10 new additions, including Daniel Iversen, Andrija Vukcevic, Daniel Jebbison, Thierry Small, Odeluga Offiah and Michael Smith.

Preston may be slightly concerned by the fact that they won just one of their five official pre-season friendlies (D1, L3), before they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat in their recent behind-closed-doors match against Manchester City.

They will look to put those results behind them as they attempt to beat QPR for the first time since picking up a 2-0 victory in April 2023.

Queens Park Rangers pre-season form:

W L W D D L

Preston North End pre-season form:

L W L D L

Team News

QPR are expected to be without Jake Clarke-Salter and Alfie Lloyd, while it is unclear whether Michael Frey and Zan Celar will be available for the league opener.

Jimmy Dunne and Steve Cook are hoping to prove their fitness after being forced off in last Saturday’s friendly against Brentford.

As for Preston, they will head into the opening game of the season without the services of Robbie Brady and Thompson.

Midfielder Brad Potts is believed to be struggling with an injury issue and faces a battle to prove his fitness in time for the trip to West London.

Out of the new additions, Iversen, Offiah, Small and Smith appear to be the most likely candidates to feature in Saturday’s starting lineup.

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:

Walsh; Dunne, Morrison, Cook, Larkeche; Field, Madsen; Poku, Morgan, Dembele; Chair

Preston North End possible starting lineup:

Iversen; Storey, Gibson, Hughes; Offiah, Thordarson, Whiteman, Frokjaer-Jensen, Small; Osmajic, Smith

We say: Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Preston North End

QPR will be desperate to make a positive start under their new manager, and considering that they have won each of their last three home games against Preston, we think that the R's will do enough to pick up maximum points on the opening day of the season.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.