QPR vs Birmingham prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2024-03-28 15:00.
[p]Queens Park Rangers will be hoping that the international break came at the perfect time as they look to kickstart their fight against relegation. The west Londoners were previously on a three-game winning streak before enduring a three match winless run (D2, L1) prior to club football’s hiatus, most recently drawing 0-0 at Sunderland.[/p]
[p]That is not ideal form for Martà Cifuentes’ men, who head into a crunch game against Birmingham City, the team directly below them in the table, just one point above the bottom three. With only eight rounds of the campaign remaining, Cifuentes will be desperate for his side to regain some much-needed momentum as they attempt to further improve on a run of just one defeat from their six outings (W2, D3) on home soil since mid-January.[/p]
[p]Recent history suggests that they will find life tough against Birmingham, who have lost only one of the last five away H2Hs (W2, D2). That will be music to the ears of new boss Gary Rowett – who has been named as a temporary replacement for Tony Mowbray who is on medical leave – and will become the sixth person to take charge of the club this season when he takes his place in the dugout for this fixture.[/p]
[p]Rowett, who is back at St Andrew’s for a second stint as manager, is tasked with dragging the Blues away from the relegation zone. That won’t be an easy task though, as assistant boss Mark Venus found when he took the reins for six matches before Rowett’s appointment, losing five of those outings (D1), including three in a row 1-0. As a result, Birmingham have plummeted down the table, and now sit outside the bottom three only on goal difference.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: QPR will be keen to see Chris Willock get on the scoresheet, given that he has never lost a game for them in which he has netted (W17, D3). Battling him for supremacy may be forward Jay Stansfield, who has seen seven of his ten goals for Birmingham serve as the first or last of the match. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: QPR games this season are averaging a joint-Championship low of 2.26 goals per match heading into the weekend. [/p]