Promotion-chasing QPR welcome Swansea to West London for Tuesday night’s televised clash from the Championship. Mark O’Haire shares his favourite fancy.
“Rangers boast a W7-D3-L3 home record – silencing six of their 13 guests – and have scored in 24 of their overall 26 Championship outings”
Adomah bags late QPR winner
Albert Adomah‘s late header clinched a crucial 2-1 win for promotion-chasing QPR at Coventry on Saturday to leave Mark Warburton‘s men just two points behind second-placed Bournemouth with a game in-hand. Adomah met Chris Willock’s fine cross to give Rangers the three points in a match that was largely dominated by the home side.
The R’s had gotten off to the perfect start when Andre Gray rolled the ball into the bottom corner after being put through by Willock in the sixth minute. Coventry responded to that early setback well, creating a flurry of chances before eventually equalising. However, Adomah’s intervention secured a fourth successive Championship victory for the R’s.
QPR should welcome captain Stefan Johansen back into the squad for the midweek match, as well as Osman Kakay after his Africa Cup of Nations campaign came to a close with Sierra Leone. Long-term injury absentee Jordy de Wijs was on the bench on Saturday but key players, midfielder Ilias Chair and goalkeeper Seny Dieng remain on international duty.
Manning seals Swansea success
Swansea returned to winning ways thanks to Ryan Manning‘s thunderous strike – the only goal of the game in Saturday’s home showdown with Preston.
A low-quality contest saw little in the way of chances, but the Welsh outfit deserved to win on the balance of play with the decisive moment arriving from Manning’s superb strike in the 51st minute.
It was an important three points for Russell Martin‘s squad, who had been on a poor run of results recently. Manning’s effort ended a run of five games without a win for the bottom-half side, whilst the clean sheet marked the club’s first shutout since beating Barnsley at the end of November. The Swans allowed a solitary on-target effort from Preston.
Martin went with the same 11 that started the 1-1 draw at Huddersfield seven days earlier as new loan signing Hannes Wolf was listed among the substitutes, only to make his debut from the outset for the second half. And the Swansea boss was full of praise for his players post-match, singling out Manning and his team’s rearguard for their fine efforts.
QPR hold a poor recent record at home to Swansea in league action. Indeed, the Welsh visitors have taken top honours in three of their most recent five trips to Loftus Road (W3-D1-L1), including back-to-back triumphs here across the last two campaigns. Meanwhile, the home side has succeeded only once in the past seven renewals between the pair.
QPR 2.186/5 have picked up maximum points from their past four fixtures and have posted W11-D2-L4 in league action since late-September. Rangers boast a W7-D3-L3 home record – silencing six of their 13 guests – and have scored in 24 of their overall 26 Championship outings this term. Even so, performance data suggests the R’s are overperforming.
Swansea 3.65 have W8-D7-L9 in 2021/22, a reasonable return considering Russell Martin was appointed on the eve of the season. The majority of the Swans best work has been produced at the Welsh base with the visitors returning W3-D3-L6 on the road (W1-D2-L5 at teams above them). Expected Points (xP) projections rank Swansea inside the bottom-eight.
QPR boast an excellent record in front of goal but Rangers have tightened up on home soil with matches at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium no longer the goal-filled occasions they used to be. Matches here have averaged only 2.15 goals with 10 of 13 fixtures featuring Under 2.5 Goals 1.875/6 with Both Teams To Score 1.875/6 banking in just 5/13.
Swansea have been involved in more entertaining road trips -contests have produced 2.75 goals with 7/12 delivering for BTTS backers. Two of the Swans’ three away clean sheets came against the bottom-two and therefore there doesn’t appear to be any obvious value to be gleaned from the various goals-based offerings on Tuesday night.
Instead, it may pay to support Chris Willock at 4.3310/3 in the Anytime Assist market on the Sportsbook. The former Arsenal youth has seven assists to his name already this season for QPR – averaging 0.30 per-90 minutes, whereas the odds on offer imply just a 23% chance of success on Tuesday night. A nice price on the home side’s most in-form player.
Source: Betfair UK English Championship
