QPR v Leeds United: Sky Bet Championship prediction, odds and free tip

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for QPR v Leeds United in the Sky Bet Championship.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Football, 12.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Leeds to win & both teams to score
1pt 21-10 SkyBet

Team news

QPR

Yoann Barbet remains injured but other than him Mark Warburton has no fresh injury concerns following the defeat at Brentford last weekend.

Leeds

Pablo Hernandez returned from his injury in the game against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend and could be involved from the off. Jamie Shackleton and Adam Forshaw are both doubtful while Tyler Roberts is not far off a return, the trip to West London could come too soon for him.

QPR v Leeds United match preview

Since losing a 3-0 lead to draw at home to Cardiff in mid-December, Leeds United's promotion hopes have been wobbling. Their only win in their last six games in all competitions was a remarkable 5-4 victory at Birmingham and the gap to third-place Brentford is down to six points.

The Bees comfortably saw off Leeds's opponents this weekend 3-1 at Griffin Park and Rangers will be hoping for a reaction to a disappointing effort in the West London Derby. The Loftus Road side have enjoyed a 6-1 win over Cardiff and a 5-1 FA Cup triumph over Swansea since the turn of the year but this will be a sterner test for Mark Warburton's side.

Any progress up the Championship table for QPR has been limited by a poor defensive record. The Rs have conceded 51 times in their 27 league games so far - only bottom club Luton have conceded more. Both teams have scored in five of the last six matches involving QPR.

Inconsistency is also proving to be a frustration for Rangers. Only once this season have QPR won consecutive league matches at Loftus Road and those two victories came against Luton and Wigan, two of the weaker sides in the division.

Leeds, meanwhile, have one of the strongest defensive records in the Championship conceding just 23 times.

The Whites will be looking to get their Premier League bid back on track at Loftus Road and with back-to-back home fixtures against Millwall and Wigan this looks an opportunity to put some daylight between themselves and the chasing pack, which includes Nottingham Forest and Brentford. Leeds play both of those teams in February.

One statistic that Leeds will be desperate to put right is their woeful record in London. The 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup was a tenth match without a win for Leeds on their travels to London but their last success did come at Loftus Road in December 2017.

The home side has won this fixture on the last five occasions but Leeds can break the statistical trends and take another step towards ending their 16 year wait to play Premier League football once again.

Key stat

Leeds have won just one of their last 18 games in London.

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