Queens Park Rangers vs Blackburn Rovers: Championship Clash at Loftus Road

Queens Park Rangers vs Blackburn Rovers live stream

Feb 4, 2025 - 15:31
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Queens Park Rangers vs Blackburn Rovers: Championship Clash at Loftus Road
Queens Park Rangers vs Blackburn Rovers

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QPR go into Tuesday's night clash against Blackburn Rovers at Loftus Road desperate to bounce back from a couple of disappointing defeats as the Championship season reaches the business end of the campaign. Admittedly, this is going to be an enormous fixture for either side as enormously high stakes lay in wait. This will serve as an opportunity for QPR to get back on the road with the show after having dipped in their form a little. Blackburn Rovers will look for a good finish of the season that keeps their hopes of playoff qualification intact. Current Form and Standings: A Tale of Two Sides

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QPR is currently standing at number 14 in the Championship standings, with 38 points from 30 matches.

From their horrific start to the 2024-25 season, in which they were able to come up with just one win out of their opening 16, the Hoops somehow changed the run of things. A change in form came as they piled eight victories from their last 14 games that brought them into the top half of the table. Still, defeats in two straight games brought one more question about their consistency, and manager Marti Cifuentes should find his way to get his team back on track if QPR is to end up higher than they currently are. On the other side, things are looking a bit better for Blackburn Rovers, with 45 points in 30 games they are 5th in the table.

While this season has fared a lot better under the management of John Eustace after a disastrous 2023-24 campaign which had them finish only three points ahead of the relegation zone, the Blackburn season has been an absolute rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. After a fantastic start to the season, recent performances have not gone as per plans, managing just two wins in the last ten league matches. However, the important 2-1 victory over Preston North End in the last match has given Eustace and his players new belief that their playoff challenge might well get on the right track again. QPR's Recent Struggles and the Road Ahead

The last couple of games were pretty tough for QPR as they lost two back-to-back matches.

A 2-0 defeat to Bristol City and then an even worse 3-1 defeat at the hands of Sheffield United have tempered what was shaping up to be quite the fun run of form. Setting that aside, Cifuentes has certainly done well so far at Loftus Road, taking a side who looked destined for the bottom three into one with definite potential for a top-half finish. One of the biggest strengths this season for QPR has indeed been their attacking play, courtesy of Michael Frey and Ilias Chair contributing with creativity and goals.

But it would be fair to say that the inconsistencies in recent weeks, especially within their defensive work, have indeed been a big cause for concern. Having shipped 39 goals this term, the immediate task for Cifuentes is to tighten up Hoops' backline if they are going to have a prayer of troubling teams higher up the table. Not helping QPR's cause is the spate of injuries that has sidelined the likes of Jake Clarke-Salter (hip), Karamoko Dembele (unspecified), Lucas Andersen (calf), and Zan Celar (hamstring).

This has considerably reduced the rotation choice for Cifuentes, but he will have to bank on Alfie Lloyd and Koki Saito to spearhead the front line in this match. By this stage in the campaign, hopes of qualification to the playoffs appear to have passed QPR by, and their focus will be on getting back to winning ways to conclude the season. Blackburn Rovers: Playoff Chances and Injury Worries

This would be the intention for Blackburn Rovers to cement this playoff position for that upward charge into the Premier League. Having had a slight slip-up lately, the Riversiders are not out of it regarding the top six, only a few points adrift of 6th place. For the most part, John Eustace has set up a good framework tactically, inconsistency frustrating in his team.

Of course, Blackburn have often shown great attacking flair at moments this season; at others, they have sometimes just failed to get going at all, and that seems partly to occur whenever injury has cut a great chunk out of them.

Squad injuries: Arnor Sigurdsson (thigh), Harry Pickering (knee), Hayden Carter (knee), Scott Wharton (cruciate ligament), Sondre Tronstad (hamstring), Yuki Ohashi (ankle), Zak Gilsenan (muscle). Those absences meant Eustace had to dive deeper into his squad, with players like Sam Gallagher, Ben Brereton Díaz, and Tyrhys Dolan probably taking on more responsibilities in some of those games. So, Blackburn comes off the back of a really torrid time after coming from behind to win 2-1 against Preston North End in the last match.

This win will finally hope to kickstart a good run of form for Eustace's team. The playoff spots are still not out of reach, and the manager would know that his team needs only some consistency. Still, because of their better league standing, Blackburn will go into this game as favourites even though they too have been on a rocky patch. Key Players to Watch

Ilias Chair has been one of the standout stars of QPR's season so far.

The attacking midfielder, who always showed up to inspire moments with flair, vision, and technical ability, has been behind most of QPR's good results this season. His link-up play with Frey and Saito will be the key point if the Hoops are to have any hope of breaking down Blackburn's defense. A Moroccan international, at 25 he can, if he wills, change the pace of any game that suits QPR and changes things in their direction. Much of the attacking impetus in their setup comes upon Ben Brereton Díaz.

An experienced menace for Riversiders by now, the Chilean forward has seen matches go down to the wire with some goals and assists. His pace, physicality, and aerial game make him a weapon in the final third, and QPR will need their defense to be high on alert when he gets onto the ball. He will link well with other attackers like Dolan and Hedges as an important component in Blackburn's offensive output. Head-to-Head Record and Recent Encounters

If recent historical head-to-head between both teams is anything to go by, then Blackburn Rovers have had the better of recent matches between these teams. In their last five encounters, Blackburn emerged winners three times, QPR once, while one game between them ended all square. These two teams met on September 29, 2024, at Ewood Park, in a match where Blackburn emerged with a narrow victory of 1-0.

QPR has often struggled to break teams like Blackburn, especially away, where the Riversiders have built a decent-enough record; QPR might take some semblance of encouragement from the earlier reverse fixture with Blackburn this season when it put in quite a dogged display before letting it slip towards the end of the game. The QPR attack vs the Blackburn backline will likely form the core drama of this affair.

Match Prediction

It will be an interesting encounter, with both sides having everything to play for, as QPR look to bounce back from recent defeats to continue their quest for a mid-table finish, while Blackburn look to get their playoff challenge back on track. Hard to call a winner with some injuries on each team, but Blackburn's far superior form this season and his better overall depth make them the slight favorites here.

QPR will exploit the hosts' poor backline, while they would also be solid at the back. If the Hoops can get their attacking players into form, there is no reason they cannot cause an upset. But Blackburn's recent form, along with their quality in attack, would indicate that they would have enough to come away from Loftus Road with three points.

Conclusion

This is going to be an exciting contest in the Championship, with both QPR and Blackburn Rovers in dire need of the points.

QPR will be anxious to get back on the victory path, while Blackburn, so as not to slip further behind, must clinch a favorable result if their intention is seriously to break into the top six. It's going to be really tactical, and whoever keeps their heads and capitalizes on those moments that count is going to win the game. The game may really serve as a real barometer for both sets of supporters in trying to define the remainder of the campaign.