Blackburn Rovers will be aiming to overtake Queens Park Rangers in the Championship table when the two teams meet on Saturday.
The Rs are currently two points ahead after beating Derby County 1-0 on Wednesday night, 24 hours after Blackburn drew 0-0 with Middlesbrough.
Match preview
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Despite sitting 17th, Rovers are the league's top scorers and their stalemate with Boro was only the second time this season they have drawn a blank as they missed the presence of top scorer Adam Armstrong.
There was plenty to be positive about at the other end of the pitch though as they kept a clean sheet having looked a little vulnerable defensively in recent games.
However it is now three games without a win for Tony Mowbray's side who simply appear desperate for the international break to come around. The hectic fixture schedule, combined with a high-intensity style of play, is catching up with them.
It will also be a concern that Blackburn have only won one of their five home league games this season and that came in September against lowly Wycombe Wanderers.
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Yet they can take heart in the fact that they have only lost to QPR once in 17 meetings since 2000, with that solitary Rs victory coming at Loftus Road last season.
The current QPR side will be in a confident mood travelling to Lancashire after Macauley Bonne's 88th-minute winner against Derby kept their momentum going following last weekend's 3-2 victory over Cardiff City.
They have not won three games in a row for over a year, but Mark Warburton will be keen to put a run of results together having gone seven matches without a victory earlier in the season.
Their win at Pride Park was their first three points on the road this season and Warburton will ask for much of the same on Saturday – a hard-fought, gutsy performance away from home.
Blackburn Rovers Championship form: LLWLLD
Queens Park Rangers Championship form: DLDLWW
Team News
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Blackburn are suffering a real injury crisis at the moment, with up to 12 first team players set to be sidelined on Saturday.
Derrick Williams and Tom Trybull were both forced off against Middlesbrough, although the latter could feature after only suffering bruising to his hip.
Adam Armstrong is in contention to return, although Tony Mowbray has admitted that it would be a risk to start him as it could aggravate a hamstring problem.
Macauley Bonne staked his claim to start for QPR after scoring the winner at Derby on Wednesday.
Bright Osayi-Samuel was forced off with a groin problem at Pride Park so could be replaced by Chris Willock.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Nyambe, Lenihan, Wharton, Rankin-Costello; Trybull, Holtby, Rothwell; Elliott, Gallagher, Brereton
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Kane, Dickie, Barbet, Hamalainen; Cameron, Carroll; Adomah, Chair, Willock; Bonne
We say: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Queens Park Rangers
Blackburn have a poor home record and QPR are not that great away, so something has to give here. Rovers' squad is really being stretched at the moment and an in-form Rangers could take advantage of that to head into the international break with three consecutive wins.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:data
Olly Allen
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Blackburn Rovers win with a probability of 47.75%. A win for Queens Park Rangers had a probability of 26.6% and a draw had a probability of 25.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Blackburn Rovers win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.42%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.28%) and 2-0 (8.69%). The likeliest Queens Park Rangers win was 0-1 (8.01%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.19%). The actual scoreline of 3-1 was predicted with a 4.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Blackburn Rovers would win this match.
