Marti Cifuentes admitted QPR made wrong ‘choices’ vs Leeds United last year, now he must learn from mistake

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A couple of weeks ago, no one would have fancied QPR to get anything from their upcoming game against Leeds United, but things are different now.

In the past three games, Leeds have looked far less ruthless. Dropping points against West Brom and then losing to Portsmouth has put their title celebrations on hold for the meantime, but they did bounce back with a win against Millwall on Wednesday night.

The Whites are back at the top of the Championship table now, and have the chance to extend their lead if they can get a result against an inconsistent QPR side on Saturday lunchtime.

After a hectic week in the Championship, both sides will be hoping for a calm and successful afternoon, but only one manager is likely to get that wish.

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Marti Cifuentes needed QPR to be ‘perfect’ vs Leeds and they failed

We took a look back at the last time these two sides met, with Leeds claiming a comfortable 2-0 win at Elland Road in November 2024.

After the game, QPR manager Marti Cifuentes had a lot to say about his team’s shortcomings, and essentially admitted his team were not good enough to compete with the might of Leeds on the day.

Speaking to the press at the time (via Leeds Live), Cifuentes said: “We know they are a very good team. They have the capacity to play well with their defensive structure and the two centre-halves and the two midfielders dropping team and the full-backs very high. There are a lot of players in the pocket.

“We knew we would almost have to do the perfect defensive game out of possession and take our chances.”

Cifuentes acknowledged that his team didn’t get the basics right at all, and fell short of being at the level required to get anything against Leeds.

He added: “When we arrived in the final third, perhaps our choices when we got into situations were not the best. You need to have a high level of accuracy to get something from a game like today.

“It is hard for the guys because we are in a difficult trend but we played against a very good team so fair play to them.”

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
12	NorwichNorwich	37	12	13	12	59	52	7	49
13	MillwallMillwall	37	12	12	13	36	39	-3	48
14	QPRQPR	37	11	11	15	42	48	-6	44
15	PrestonPreston	37	9	17	11	37	43	-6	44
16	SwanseaSwansea	37	12	8	17	38	47	-9	44

QPR have improved since then. They were bottom of the league last time the two sides met, but are now looking relatively safe in 14th place, with a nine-point gap between themselves and the drop zone.

With that improvement, and the painful lesson taken from the last meeting, there’s every chance QPR could spring a surprise at Loftus Road this weekend.

• READ MORE: Jed Wallace reveals the best side West Brom have faced this season but he ‘actually thinks’ one side is even better

QPR might be facing Leeds at just the right time

Leeds United have been branded the ‘best team’ in the division by plenty of people, and on paper, they probably are. But, they are not infallible.

Recent results have cast doubt over the strength of Daniel Farke’s side and have shown kinks in the armour that QPR will be looking to exploit on Saturday.

There’s also the fact that Leeds and QPR kick off at 12:30pm this weekend, which, historically, is not a good time for the Whites. Indeed, Leeds have won just two of their last 13 lunchtime games, so QPR could well extend that curse.

One more win and QPR would surely have their second tier status renewed, but Leeds have just as much if not more to fight for, with the Championship title prize fund within their reach. It will be a fascinating game, that’s for sure.