Wigan vs QPR prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-03-31 14:00.
Wigan Athletic, the Championship’s bottom-placed side, have eight games to save their place in next season’s edition, and have their work cut out sitting eight points behind the side in 21st place having played one game more. That task was made even harder last week after they were docked three points for failing to pay their players on time, something chairman Talal Al Hammad vowed will “never happen again”.
A win against Queens Park Rangers, who they trail by 11 points, would help and could drag their visitors into more relegation danger themselves. At least the Latics are making themselves hard to beat at home in the Championship (W1, D3) but as none of those games featured them scoring before the 55th minute, manager Shaun Maloney must be keen to see them start well.
QPR’s last two visits here saw them concede first before the 35th minute (L2) so they shouldn’t be taking Wigan’s slow starts for granted as they seek one of the two wins manager Gareth Ainsworth feels they need to survive. But after winning just one of their last 15 league matches (D5, L9), it’s hard to be confident about them maintaining their current six-point gap to safety.
Historically, this fixture has not produced much entertainment with an average of one goal per game across the last five H2Hs here (QPR: W1, D2, L2) so any sort of strike could prove decisive. That might encourage the Hoops as they’re unbeaten in league away games in which they scored first this season (W5, D1).
Players to watch: If Wigan do start quickly, then Will Keane – who once went on loan to QPR when on Manchester United’s books – could be their man as eight of his ten league goals this term came before the break. QPR might look to Tim Iroegbunam for a similar impact as he netted before the 25th minute in two of their last five fixtures.
Hot stat: Wigan have scored one first-half goal across their last 11 Championship home games (W2, D3, L6).