Queens Park Rangers vs Sheffield Wednesday - prediction, team news, lineups

Both aiming to bounce back from New Year's Day defeats, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday will do battle at Loftus Road on Sunday.

The visitors remain rooted to the foot of the Championship table on -7 points in a winless run, while their hosts have dropped to 12th spot following back-to-back losses.

Match preview

Queens Park Rangers head back into Championship action on Sunday in search of a return to winning ways after a tough festive period.

A resounding 4-1 win over Leicester City before Christmas left Julien Stephan's side on 34 points from 22 league outings, but they have added just one more point to that tally since, dropping to 12th spot as a result.

Following a 1-1 Boxing Day draw with Portsmouth, the London outfit rounded off 2025 with a trip to West Bromwich Albion and suffered a 2-1 defeat - their ninth league loss of the campaign - having drawn level through an Ousmane Diakite own goal, only for Nathaniel Phillips to put the hosts back ahead.

Stephan's men then hosted strugglers Norwich City on New Year's Day, and they again lost 2-1, with Amadou Mbengue's 99th-minute goal coming too late after Joshua Sargent and Jovon Makama had the visitors 2-0 up.

Now sitting five points behind the playoff spots as a result of their dip in form since Christmas, Queens Park Rangers head into the weekend aiming to bounce back and climb back towards the top six.

Their visitors, meanwhile, head to London in search of a victory to lift spirits in a tough campaign.

Facing the Championship season with a threadbare squad and deductions totalling 18 points, having entered administration in October, Henrik Pedersen's men have struggled to overcome those issues thus far, with their only league victory of the season thus far coming away at Portsmouth in mid-September.

The Owls have struggled at both ends of the pitch, with no Championship side scoring fewer than their 18 goals or conceding more than the 48 they have allowed in 24 outings.

While the 18 games since their solitary win have produced just seven more points, they did, at least record 2-2 and 0-0 draws with Hull City and Blackburn Rovers after Christmas, but Pedersen's men would make a losing start to 2026 on Thursday.

A trip to Preston North End ended in a 3-0 defeat, with Ali McCann, Milutin Osmajic and Lewis Dobbin on the scoresheet, and now sitting on -7 points, 32 adrift of safety, Sheffield Wednesday will at least look to build optimism with a victory on the road.

Queens Park Rangers Championship form:

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Sheffield Wednesday Championship form:

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Team News

Julien Stephan may opt to make changes to his Queens Park Rangers starting XI from their New Year's Day defeat, with Kwame Poku, Koki Saito and Kieran Morgan among those hoping to earn starts.

Rumarn Burrell and Richard Kone will both hope to keep their places up front, having netted nine and five league goals respectively so far this term, with key man Ilias Chair confined to the treatment room.

Morgan may displace Isaac Hayden and join Nicolas Madsen in the engine room, while Jimmy Dunne and Steve Cook will continue at the heart of a back four.

Sheffield Wednesday remain without key man Yan Valery, who is away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations with Tunisia, although Sean Fusire did return to the Owls after Zimbabwe's exit.

They are also hit by injuries, with Di'Shon Bernard, Ernie Weaver, Nathaniel Chalobah, Max Lowe, Olaf Kobacki, George Brown and Ike Ugbo sidelined.

Liam Cooper was also forced off in the first half of the New Year's Day loss to Preston, meaning Liam Palmer may drop into a back three alongside Gabriel Otegbayo and Dominic Iorfa.

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:

Nardi; Mbengue, Dunne, Cook, Norrington-Davies; Poku, Madsen, Morgan, Smyth; Burrell, Kone

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:

Charles; Palmer, Otegbayo, Iorfa; Fusire, Ingelsson, Bannan, Thornton, Amass; J Lowe, McNeill

We say: Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday

Queens Park Rangers have seen their momentum take a hit since Christmas, but they should have enough to bounce back at home at home to a threadbare Sheffield Wednesday side lacking confidence.

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