‘Leggy’ – Championship experts ‘worried’ as they provide QPR vs Leeds United score prediction

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Leeds United beat Millwall 2-0 on Wednesday night, but attention has now swiftly turned towards a trip down to QPR on Saturday afternoon.

Off the back of a Wednesday evening kick-off, Leeds have two days’ rest before the lunchtime clash away at QPR, which is a less-than-ideal turnaround for a fixture the West Yorkshire outfit don’t experience much joy in.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LeedsLeeds	37	23	10	4	74	23	51	79
2	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	37	24	7	6	52	28	24	77
3	BurnleyBurnley	37	20	15	2	50	11	39	75
4	SunderlandSunderland	37	19	12	6	55	34	21	69
5	West BromWest Brom	37	13	17	7	47	33	14	56
6	CoventryCoventry	37	16	8	13	52	48	4	56

It’s clear from the start of the run-in that Sheffield United and Burnley will take the Championship title race right to the bitter end, but results suited Leeds during matchday 37.

As for QPR, a 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough on Tuesday night has now made it four Championship defeats in a row for Marti Cifuentes’ men ahead of the visit of top of the table Leeds this weekend.

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Pundits predict Leeds to maintain top spot with win over QPR

Ao Tanaka claimed man of the match against Millwall, but the Hoops will provide a sterner test in West London, given that they are somewhat of a bogey team for Leeds in recent times.

The Whites have lost their last four games away at QPR, although Leeds won the reverse fixture 2-0 earlier this season. They have not won away at Loftus Road since December 201, when a Kemar Roofe hat-trick sealed a 3-1 win.

Speaking via the Championship Check-In podcast, Benjamin Bloom and EFL pundit Sam Parkin have had their say on how the game will unravel on Saturday.

On QPR, Parkin said: “Yeah, you talk about a team being on the beach. I am worried.

“What are we looking at now? Nine points [to the relegation zone]. I mean, that’s a fair chunk of victories for that ground to be made up.

“I can’t see lightning striking twice despite how good QPR were against Leeds at the back end of last season. So, I will just keep this brief and go for a 2-0 Leeds win.”

Bloom added: “In my head there, this is how these predictions were going to go. I was like, ‘Sam is either going to say 2-0 or 3-1 to Leeds. I think he’s going to go for a two-goal margin of victory’.

“So, with that being said, I am going to take the 3-1. Maybe QPR will score when the game is already gone. But I think the only thing that works against Leeds here is the turnaround with the fixtures.

“But then QPR had to go up to Middlesbrough themselves. I know it was only an extra day, so you might get a leggy Leeds performance.

“But Farke is going to be really into those players after how it went at Pompey and I think he might get a good away response there.”

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QPR’s form has been mixed since losing to Leeds in November

QPR will at least benefit from an extra 24 hours to prepare, given their midweek trip to Middlesbrough was on Tuesday evening. Leeds’ meeting with Millwall was pushed back to Wednesday, meaning QPR ends a taxing week for Farke’s men.

Cifuentes needs to see a response from his players, even if the play-offs look beyond them now. They have the opportunity to cause an upset for a team who are charging for automatic promotion and come to London with the bit between their teeth.

Early kick-offs have often been Leeds’ achilles heel as well, which provides an extra layer of comfort for Cifuentes’ depleted ranks. Their form has also been much improved since that 2-0 defeat at Elland Road earlier in the season after a difficult start to the campaign prior to that.

However, they have been sliding of late. QPR have lost the last four, as well as seven of the last nine. That should give Leeds some hope of coming away with something as opposed to empty handed.