QPR vs Cardiff prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-12-31 15:00.
The 2023 calendar year is certainly one that Queens Park Rangers will want to forget quickly, after they survived the 2022-23 Championship drop by just six points and then followed it up with their worst start to a second-tier season this century. After a 0-0 draw at promotion contenders Ipswich in the last round, they still have a long way to go to match the 12-game winless run that included the sacking of former manager Gareth Ainsworth, but the signs arenât good.
Current boss MartĂ Cifuentes manufactured three consecutive league wins early in his tenure, only for his side to fall away horribly and drop points against other sides in the relegation shake-up, such as Plymouth (D 0-0) and Sheffield Wednesday (L 2-1). That loss to Wednesday was the only one of their last five league matches in which they found the back of the net, an aspect of their game that Cifuentes acknowledged needs to âget much betterâ.
Cardiff City began this round closer to the top-six than the bottom-three by way of points, despite their bottom-half position, but their recent form is also far from assured. After they squandered an opportunity to record consecutive Championship wins for the first time since October with a Boxing Day draw at home to Plymouth, league leaders Leicester were far too good for the Welsh outfit on Friday.
Perhaps the worst aspect of that 2-0 loss to the Foxes was a hamstring injury to one of their leading goalscorers, West Brom loanee Karlan Grant, that head coach Erol Bulut feared âdoesnât look goodâ prior to a scan. Itâs the last thing they needed considering that their other joint-top Championship goalscorer, IkĂ© Ugbo, who scored their only goal in a 2-1 home loss to QPR earlier this season, may miss this match to continue his recovery from his own hamstring tear.
Players to watch: 20-year-old QPR striker Sinclair Armstrong was Flashscoreâs âMan of the Matchâ for scoring and assisting in the reverse H2H. Cardiff defender Dimitrios Goutas has been a good luck charm of sorts, winning all three league games in which he was on the scoresheet this season.
Hot streak: QPRâs last eight games at home to Cardiff all produced over 2.5 total goals.