QPR vs. Blackburn: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

QPR are in very good form on home soil, having recorded four wins from their last five. Blackburn, conversely, are winless in their last four games away from home. These two sides have faced off twice in 2024, with both sides winning one game each.

BTTS has occurred in three of QPR's last five games on home soil and two of Blackburn's last three, so we fancy both sides to register on the scoresheet here in what is a tough game to call. QPR 2-1 Blackburn.

Blackburn’s playoff push resumes this week as they lock horns with Queens Park Rangers in the Championship.

• Date: 04/02/2025
• Kick-off time: 19:45
• Location: Loftus Road, West London

QPR currently sit 14th in the Championship with 38 points from 30 games. It’s been a pretty disappointing campaign from the Rs, who many thought would make a serious run at the playoffs. QPR ended last season like a freight train under Martí Cifuentes, who many regarded as one of the managers of the season after he took QPR from relegation fodder to a comfortable league finish. However, QPR have been little more than a middling Championship side, and seem highly likely to finish bang in the middle of the table.

While the Rs have been a middle-of-the-road side on the defensive end of things this season, they’ve found scoring goals really difficult, scoring just 33 in the league. Swiss forward Michael Frey is the team’s top scorer with five goals, while defender Jimmy Dunne and youngster Rayan Kolli both have four, but QPR have few other sources of consistent goals.

The Hoops recently completed the signing of 21-year-old Harvey Vale from Chelsea. Vale is an extremely well-rounded player who can play a variety of positions and capably contribute to the team’s attack, and they’ll hope that his introduction can help the team push on in an attacking sense because it doesn’t look like any of the current crop are going to step up at this stage.
They’re facing a very hit-and-miss Blackburn side here, so they’ll be confident about their chances of coming out on top.

Blackburn Rovers are currently 5th in the Championship with 45 points from 30 games. It’s been an exceptionally impressive campaign so far from a Blackburn side that are probably the most overperforming side in the league. Rovers have been handcuffed by financial issues off the pitch and have lost some very high-level talent in recent transfer windows, and they’ve been unable to spend significant sums to replace those losses. However, working with a squad full of bargain buys, free agents and academy products, John Eustace has Blackburn in genuine contention for a playoff spot.

It feels like many are waiting for Blackburn to drop off, and in all honesty, the majority would have expected them to have dropped off significantly already. They still might, because their underlying numbers aren’t convincing; Rovers have accumulated an expected goal rate of 1.15xG per game, which is the third lowest in the league, while only six teams have a worse expected goals against rate (1.40xGA per game). That suggests that their position very much flatters them this season, and there’s probably some truth in that, but the fact they’re still 5th after 30 games suggests they might be able to stick around for another 16 games.

Rovers have also really struggled with injuries this season, so if and when they start to get their players back, they could see a greater uptick in performance. They’re coming into this game off the back of a decent win, and another three points here would be huge for them.

This game will be televised live to all subscribed UK viewers on Sky Sports +.

QPR Team News:

QPR will be without Žan Celar, who remains out with an injury. He should, though, be their only injury absentee.

New signing Harvey Vale should be in the matchday squad, and given the team are coming off a defeat, he could be in the running to start.

Predicted lineup: Nardi; Edwards, Cook, Fox, Paal; Varane, Field; Smyth, Kolli, Chair; Lloyd.

Blackburn Team News:

Blackburn have a very lengthy injury list, as top scorer Yuki Ohashi remains out injured, along with Sondre Tronstad, Hayden Carter, Scott Wharton, Harry Pickering and Arnór Sigurðsson.

John Eustace will be tempted to name the same XI that started the win over Preston on Friday night.

Predicted lineup: Pears; Brittain, Hyam, Batth, Beck; Travis, Buckley; Dolan, Weimann, Hedges; Gueye.

QPR:

QPR are coming into this game amidst a mixed run of form, with two wins and four defeats from their last five games. At the weekend, QPR fell to a 2-1 defeat away at Millwall, despite equalising early doors through Alfie Lloyd.

Before that, the Rs fell to a 0-2 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday, which came after a 2-1 win away at Hull City - thanks to Kenneth Paal and Koki Saito - and a 1-0 win over Plymouth Argyle thanks to a goal from Rayan Kolli, which followed a 6-2 hammering at Leicester City in the FA Cup.

Blackburn:

Blackburn Rovers also enter this game having won two and lost three of their last five games. Rovers locked horns with rivals Preston North End on Friday night and emerged deserving 2-1 winners. Rovers took a 2-0 lead after a dominant first 80 minutes through Makhtar Gueye and Todd Cantwell, before Preston scored a consolation goal at the death.

Prior to that, Rovers lost three games on the spin, losing to Bristol City (2-1), Coventry City (0-2) and Oxford United (1-0), a trio of defeats that were preceded by a 3-0 win over Portsmouth, where Gueye, Callum Brittain and Andreas Weimann scored the goals.

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