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

Both aiming to bounce back from midweek defeats, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield United will square off at MATRADE Loftus Road on Saturday.

The two sides both lost crucial ground in their outside hopes of pursuing the top six in the Championship table, with the hosts now seven points off the playoffs and the visitors nine behind with 12 games remaining.

Match preview

Queens Park Rangers head into the weekend aiming to keep their faint Championship playoff hopes alive with a return to winning ways.

In their first season under the management of Julien Stephan, they have earned 47 points from 34 outings, now putting them 14th in England's second tier, albeit only trailing seventh spot by three points.

The Hoops moved into a promising position with a home win over league leaders Coventry City in late January, but they have failed to capitalise since, adding just four more points to their tally from the last four attempts.

After bouncing back from a home defeat to Blackburn Rovers by prevailing away at fifth-placed Hull City last weekend, Stephan's men visited fellow playoff-chasers Southampton on Tuesday and succumbed to a 5-0 beating as Kuryu Matsuki netted a brace for the hosts alongside goals from Finn Azaz, Leo Scienza and James Bree.

Having faced a sharp drop to 14th in a tight mid-table pack as a result of that setback, and now trailing sixth spot by seven points with 12 games remaining, QPR will be desperate to bounce back and kickstart a winning run at the weekend.

Their visitors arrive in the capital in a similar position, albeit with two more points to make up in their top-six pursuit.

Sheffield United's outside playoff hopes in recent weeks are somewhat of a surprise after their start to the campaign, having been stuck in the relegation zone in early stages after last season's playoff final loss.

Much-improved since November, though, Chris Wilder's men would climb within six points of sixth spot at the weekend, making it three wins from four games and four from six as they hosted rivals Sheffield Wednesday and relegated their rivals in a 2-1 victory, having led 2-0 at the interval through Patrick Bamford and Harrison Burrows and stood strong with 10 men in the second half.

The Blades then hosted league leaders Coventry City on Wednesday but failed to make it three straight wins and crack the top half, despite taking a lead through Burrows early in the second half, as Haji Wright quickly levelled for the visitors before Jack Rudoni headed in the winner around the hour mark.

Now sitting 16th in the Championship, 10 places and nine points off the playoffs with 12 games remaining, Sheffield United know any remaining hopes of a playoff fight in the run-in are dependent on putting a run of victories together starting with Saturday's trip.

Queens Park Rangers Championship form:

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Sheffield United Championship form:

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Team News

Queens Park Rangers face an unenviable injury list, with Nicolas Madsen forced off in the first half of their midweek defeat, meaning he may join Ilias Chair, Kwame Poku, Justin Obikwu, Karamoko Dembele and Rumarn Burrell in the treatment room.

If Madsen does miss out, Kieran Morgan should come into the midfield from the outset alongside Isaac Hayden, while full-back Rhys Norrington-Davies is ineligible against his parent club.

The losses of Chair, Poku, Dembele and Burrell leave Stephan's men relatively light in attack, and Koki Saito and Harvey Vale could again line up on the wings either side of Rayan Kolli and Richard Kone.

Sheffield United remain without midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who was sent off in last week's win over Sheffield Wednesday, while Sam McCallum and Tom Davies are out injured.

Their midfield troubles are eased slightly, though, with Jairo Riedewald returning off the bench in midweek after a long injury layoff, while Joe Rothwell is back in contention after a three-game suspension for his own red card on debut.

They will compete to join key midfielder Sydie Peck, while Andre Brooks, Callum O'Hare and Gustavo Hamer should continue behind striker Patrick Bamford, who has netted nine goals in 18 appearances since joining the Blades.

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:

Walsh; Mbengue, Dunne, Edwards Esquerdinha; Vale, Morgan, Hayden, Saito; Kolli, Kone

Sheffield United possible starting lineup:

Cooper; Seriki, Tanganga, Bindon, Burrows; Peck, Riedewald; Brooks, O'Hare, Hamer; Bamford

We say: Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Sheffield United

Both left wounded by momentum-halting defeats in midweek and facing all but being out of the playoff race heading into the final months of the season, we see Saturday's contest at Loftus Road ending level at the weekend.

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