Leeds United at Queens Park Rangers preview: Leeds must be ruthless at Loftus Road
Leeds travel to West London and Loftus Road, home of Queens Park Rangers.
Let’s start by reminding everyone: Queens Park Rangers are managed by Ian Holloway. He is as astute as he his entertaining, never afraid to speak his mind. Amidst the off the cuff remarks, he makes a lot of sense and has backed this up with his ability to manage, taking unfashionable Blackpool to the premiership in 2010.
His tenure at Loftus Road though is under threat due to a recent run of bad results. They had to be thrifty in the transfer market and have suffered some bad luck injury wise. Therefore, their fan base is split on his future.
One thing is certain though: his sides keep fighting to the end, and against the odds, they have beaten runaway league leaders Wolves. Leeds should be wary of that.
What we know about QPR this season
The head of majority shareholders, Tune Group, is Tony Fernandes and he recently admitted to making mistakes in his early years of running the club in terms of finance and naïve ambition. The Hoops are currently appealing against a record breaking fine of £40 million imposed for breaking Financial Fair Play rules.
This season, they are very much cutting their cloth to suit. Of 9 transfers, 6 were free and the remaining were from lower league teams. This has affected the team’s play-off credentials. After a positive start, they have faded recently. The Hoops have won only 5 games all season and currently sit in 18th place on 22 points which is 10 places (but only 8 points) behind Leeds.
Their leading scorer is Matt Smith on 5, followed closely by three others on 4: Mackie, Sylla and Washington. They have scored 22 goals but conceded 29.
Key Battle
With nine of Ranger’s goals coming from set pieces and four of Matt Smith’s goals being headers, I see a key battle being Jansson against the giant former White, Smith. Rangers are without key players and hitting the ball long up to Smith is sure to be a major strategy Saturday. Keeping out Smith from corners will literally be a tall order. Jansson is our man for the task.
If Leeds are to finally put a line under their bad run going into these Christmas fixtures, they need to be ruthless in front of goal and not overplay situations. With the Ranger’s defence being depleted I would like Ekuban to take advantage and step up and get on the goal sheet this Saturday.
Injuries & Suspensions
Lasogga has resumed training after missing four matches through illness but needs more time, as does Stuart Dallas. O’Kane is available again, however Hernandez is likely to miss out.
For the R’s - Baptiste and Mackie are suspended, whilst defensive trio Nedum Onuoha, Grant Hall and James Perch are likely to be absent.
Form
Leeds: L | W | L | W | D
QPR: L | L | L | D | L
Head to Head
At QPR, there have been 26 meetings and the honours have been evenly split: QPR winning 9, Leeds 8, with 9 Draws.
WHAT
Queens Park Rangers vs. Leeds United
EFL Championship Fixture
#QPRLEE
WHERE
Loftus Road Stadium, London
LUTV, BBC Radio Leeds, Beam back to Elland Road
WHEN
Saturday, 9 December 2017
3:00pm BT
WHO
Leeds United’s predicted starting XI
Wiedwald, Berardi, Jansson, Cooper, Ayling, Phillips, Vieira, Hernandez, Alioski, Saiz, Ekuban
QPR’s predicted starting XI
Smithies, Wszolek, Robinson, Lynch, Bidwell, Chair, Luongo, Scowen, Wheeler, Smith, Washington
ODDS
Leeds 17/10
Draw 23/10
QPR 8/5
PREDICTION
QPR are under strength and in poor form. Leeds are regaining some confidence and this is a game I feel our midfield can dominate. With QPR having a makeshift back line, if we convert the chances we create into goals, the game is ours. 2–0 Leeds.
