By Daniel Wood
Huddersfield Town host Queens Park Rangers in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday 8th February at the John Smith’s Stadium; 3 pm KO.
With both teams in poor form, they will both be hoping to bounce back and begin to gain some more points. Huddersfield Town have taken just 4 points out of a possible 15 in the last 5 games. The Terriers fell victim to Fulham at Craven Cottage last time out where they lost 3-2.
Town have the worst home record in the SkyBet Championship having won only 4, drawn 5 and lost 6. This has seen them gather just 17 points at the John Smith’s Stadium in the SkyBet Championship this season. Town sits just 3 points ahead of the relegation places.
Queens Park Rangers
QPR don’t have very good form coming into the game with Huddersfield Town, losing their last 2 games in the league. In their last 5 games, they have won 2 and lost 3. They currently sit in 16th place and 9 points ahead of the relegation slots.
Their away record, in comparison to the rest of the league, is average as they have the 13th best away record in the league. They have won 5, drew 1 and lost 8, which has seen them gather 16 points on their travels. This is still slightly worse than Huddersfield’s home record, so the Terriers may come into this with high confidence.
Mark Warburton, the QPR manager, began his managerial career in 2013 when he took charge on Brentford. His debut season saw him take Brentford to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1993, after automatic promotion from League One. He departed Brentford in 2015 after his contract expired and then was named Rangers manager. In his first season, he guided the Scottish side back to the Scottish Premiership and he also won the Scottish Challenge Cup.
He then departed Rangers the following season and joined Nottingham Forest in 2017. He didn’t achieve much at Forest where he was dismissed the day before the new year due to Forest’s poor season.
In 2019, Warburton returned to football take charge of QPR who currently sit 16th in the SkyBet Championship.
Ones to Watch
EBERECHI EZE
The 21-Year Old has big shoes to fill following the departure of QPR’s top goalscorer, Nahki Wells. However, Eze has 10 goals and 6 assists this season in the SkyBet Championship, which is actually the same number of goal contributions as Nahki Wells. The young attacker has made a big impact this season, showing how talented he is and it is clear that he has bags of potential.
BRIGHT OSAYI-SAMUEL
The pacey left midfielder is enjoying a decent season for QPR this campaign. He has 4 goals and 4 assists in the SkyBet Championship this season where he has proved to be a menace for defenders. He is the clubs current 3rd top goal scorer/provider and it will be important for him to step up and deliver some great performances to push the side forward.
JORDAN HUGILL
The 27-Year Old has been somewhat in the shadow of Nahki Wells this season, but don’t underestimate the English striker. Hugill has scored 9 goals in the Championship this season and is the clubs current second-highest goal scorer in the division, following Wells’ departure.
Team News – Huddersfield Town
Manager Danny Cowley will detail Huddersfield Town’s latest team news at his press conference on Friday 7 February 2020.
Danny was without Kamil Grabara (head), Collin Quaner (hip), Tommy Elphick (knee), Jonathan Hogg (knock), Danny Simpson (contact injury), Matty Daly (hip) and Alex Pritchard (knee) during the Terriers game against Fulham.
New signing Chris Willock and the returning signing Jonas Lössl will be in contention for the weekend.
Team News – Queens Park Rangers
Charlie Owens (knee) may be unavailable to play, meanwhile, Geoff Cameron is currently serving a yellow card suspension.
PREDICTION
QPR slightly lead the head to head record against Huddersfield Town. Since their first meeting in 1932, QPR have won 13, Town have won 12 and there have been 9 draws. Last time they faced, earlier this season, they drew 1-1 at Loftus Road in August 2019. QPR have not beaten Town since August 2015.
QPR have a slightly better form coming into this game, but neither team have set the world on fire. The R’s have taken 6 points from their last 5, whereas Town have taken only 4. Last time out for QPR saw them lose 1-0 to Bristol City at Loftus Road, despite having 71% possession. Meanwhile, the Terriers lost 3-2 to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Huddersfield Town are looking to extend their gap on the relegation zone to 6 points if results go their way. If so, they could jump above Charlton Athletic in the table. QPR are looking to put all doubt of a potential relegation behind them. They are currently 9 points above the drop and shouldn’t have anything to worry about but they would like another win to further their confidence. If results go their way, they could jump to 13th in the table.
The Terriers poor home record this season won’t fill the team with much confidence, as more teams have beaten Town at the John Smith’s Stadium than Town have beaten.
Despite this, I still see a positive outcome for Huddersfield Town as they had a good showing against Fulham, pushing the promotion contenders to a close encounter. QPR may have strong attacking options, but their defence seemingly is a week point. Therefore, I predict:
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