Middlesbrough vs QPR prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-09-01 14:00.
Despite pundits across the country tipping Middlesbrough up for great things this season, a rotten start to the Championship campaign (D1, L3) has left them wondering just what the realistic aim for the season is. A 3-1 midweek Carabao Cup win over Bolton served to boost confidence, yet with only Sheffield Wednesday picking up fewer points than Boro across the entire EFL, that elusive first league win is needed in double quick time.
Perhaps the most obvious area for improvement is Boro’s porous defence, which has failed to keep a single clean sheet in all competitions this season. In fact, the only clean sheet Boro can boast in 15 games since the beginning of April was a goalless draw in an ultimately fruitless play-off semi-final against Coventry. And that dismal run may yet get worse, with no shutouts and just one win in home H2Hs against QPR since the turn of the decade (W1, L3).
Gareth Ainsworth’s men have the advantage of extra preparation time for this clash having already been eliminated from the cup, although that was part of a similarly sorry start to their own season (W1, L4). The main difference in outlook is that QPR are fully expecting to be embroiled in a relegation battle this season, with off-field financial troubles meaning the often under-fire boss has been restricted to free transfers.
Despite the black cloud which seems to be hanging over QPR at the moment, they can at least travel here with hope after clocking up more shots than Southampton in their latest away game, albeit in a 2-1 defeat, along with a shock win at Cardiff in their first trip. Ainsworth was quick to praise the “heart and desire” of his men in the wake of their latest loss, and that is something they’ll need plenty of if they’re to inflict more misery upon Middlesbrough.
Players to watch: Sammy Silvera is set for his first Australia call up in the coming break after winning the A-League with Central Coast Mariners before scoring once and assisting twice in his short time on Teesside. Trying to outdo him will be QPR’s imposing Irishman, Sinclair Armstrong, who was the scorer of their only match-winning goal this season with what was also his first EFL goal.
Hot stat: Middlesbrough have conceded before half-time in four of their last five competitive matches.