Rotherham vs QPR prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-03-03 15:00.
Rotherham United upset the odds recently by beating Sunderland 2-1 before drawing 1-1 at Swansea City to fire themselves six points clear of the Championship relegation zone. They’ll be taking nothing for granted though, and manager Matt Taylor is well aware there’s plenty more work to do, admitting after the Swansea draw that “with 12 games left, every game is massive”.
A win here against Queens Park Rangers would see the Millers leapfrog their visitors and it shouldn’t be discounted as they’ve only lost one of their last five Championship home fixtures (W2, D2), with both of those wins coming after they opened the scoring inside the first 20 minutes. Another strong start and Rotherham fans will be hoping for a fourth home H2H without defeat (W2, D1).
The appointment of former player Gareth Ainsworth to replace Neil Critchley did not inspire an immediate response as QPR were beaten 3-1 by Blackburn Rovers last Saturday, not helped by the loss of striker Ilias Chair to injury before half-time. “He's a superstar for the club and once you lose someone like that it's going to hit you hard,” Ainsworth said after they slumped to a fourth consecutive league defeat which also extended their winless Championship run to 11 games (D5, L6).
At least Ainsworth knows what it takes to come here and win, as he was a starter when QPR won an away H2H 1-0 in 2005 and has never lost at this venue as a manager (W3, D1), though all of those H2Hs were during his time at Wycombe Wanderers. Continuing that run might be a major challenge as the Hoops are winless across five league away games (D3, L2), only once scoring first during that sequence.
Players to watch: Oliver Rathbone scored the opener in Rotherham’s win over Sunderland, with each of his last three league strikes all coming at home via his left foot. QPR’s Jamal Lowe might be the man of the moment here though, as he’s scored two of his side’s last five league goals and all three of his competitive strikes this term were match-openers.
Hot stat: No team has scored fewer than QPR’s five league away first-half goals this term.