Blackburn v QPR: Both sides can oblige at Ewood Park

“The home side have notched twice or more in 10 of 16 encounters and will be given opportunities here with QPR’s defence weakened by suspensions”

Blackburn beaten at Bramall Lane

Blackburn conceded a dramatic stoppage-time winner to 10-man Sheffield United in a feisty fixture at Bramall Lane on Wednesday evening as Rovers’ miserable recent run extended. Tony Mowbray‘s men have now failed to score in each of their last five Championship fixtures with Brighton loanee Reda Khadra seeing a penalty saved in midweek.

Following a tight opening half, Blackburn were given a boost by Charlie Goode’s red card but were unable to make their advantage count. As well as the penalty save, United goalkeeper Wes Foderingham made a couple of smart stops to ensure parity, and it was Rovers stopper Thomas Kaminski who failed to deal with a late corner, leading to the decisive strike.

Despite the disappointing defeat, Mowbray was pleased with his side’s performance post-match, saying: “I am pleased with the team, as always I thought that they were magnificent. They played against a team who had a lot of players play in the Premier League last season and we had five kids from our academy and I thought we competed really well.”

QPR back to winning ways

Luke Amos‘ last-minute goal gave 10-man QPR a dramatic – and vital – 2-1 victory over Blackpool on Wednesday night. The Tangerines equalised with eight minutes remaining, cancelling out Jimmy Dunne’s first-half Hoops opener. However, Amos clinched Rangers’ first win in five matches late on, taking Mark Warburton‘s men up to third in the table.

With the R’s having struggled of late, and with Lyndon Dykes out injured, Warburton decided to start without a recognised striker, leaving Charlie Austin and Andre Gray on the bench and deploying Chris Willock as the main attacker. But QPR again struggled to create clear-cut chances in the first half and saw Dion Sanderson dismissed with a straight red.

It means the Hoops will need to shuffle the pack again for the trip to Ewood Park with Rob Dickie serving the second of a two-match ban, leaving the visitors short at centre-back in their preferred five-man rearguard. Rangers will hope to have left-sided defenders Lee Wallace or Sam McCallum back in the fold, whilst Dykes also remains a major doubt.

Blackburn have enjoyed solid home supremacy when welcoming QPR to Ewood Park. Rovers have claimed top honours in each of the last four home league meetings here. On Saturday, the hosts also looking to avoid a first league double defeat by Rangers since the 1970/71 season with the Hoops having claimed a 1-0 triumph in the reverse match-up in October.

Ten wins from 13 parachuted Blackburn 2.166/5 into the automatic promotion picture through the winter but Rovers have failed to fire since mid-January. Tony Mowbray’s men have posted W1-D2-L4 across their past seven outings, failing to even sore on six occasions. In fact, the visitors have notched only two league goals in almost 14 hours of action.

QPR 3.6013/5 have endured their own lean spell of late. The midweek success was only the R’s second in the Championship since mid-January (W2-D3-L2) with the visitors having lost and failed to score in each of their most recent two road trips. Nevertheless, the Hoops can boast a W7-D2-L4 return when travelling to teams outside of the runaway top-two.

Blackburn might be missing 20-goal top goalscorer Ben Brereton Diaz, and struggling to get on the scoresheet in recent weeks, yet Rovers should be encouraged by their goalscoring return at Ewood Park. The home side have notched twice or more in 10 of 16 encounters and will be given opportunities here with QPR’s defence weakened by suspensions.

Rangers have only twice kept their sheets clean on their travels, although the West Londoners do provide a threat of their own. Mark Warburton’s men have notched in all bar two away days as Both Teams To Score 1.855/6 has banked in 11/15 (73%) fixtures – a repeat looks well worthy of an interest at the odds on offer in Saturday’s curtain-raiser clash.