Queens Park Rangers square off against fellow promotion-chasing side Middlesbrough on Wednesday evening looking to extend their unbeaten streak in the Championship to six matches.
While the home team begin the week in fourth position, Boro are down in seventh place despite winning five of their last six outings in the league.
Match preview
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Having impressed in the second tier of late, QPR boss Mark Warburton would have been confident of showcasing that form against Peterborough United in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.
However, despite having their chances against Posh, QPR went down by a 2-0 scoreline, a desperately disappointing scoreline when also taking into consideration that they have also missed out on a home tie with Manchester City.
After making minimal alterations for that fixture, Warburton must decide how to move forward, although competition for places has been improved with the recent additions of Dion Sanderson and Jeff Hendrick.
As it stands, the Hoops hold a six-point advantage over their upcoming opponents, but with momentum everything in this division, a defeat could have long-standing consequences.
On a positive note, QPR possess the fifth-best home record in the division, with seven points being collected from a possible nine since the middle of January.
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While the London outfit felt the frustration of the FA Cup at the weekend, Boro savoured the joyful part of the competition having edged out Manchester United on penalties at Old Trafford.
There were times when Boro rode their luck and they were fortunate to see their second-half equaliser stand, but Chris Wilder will feel that his players deserved their good fortune for another upward-trending performance.
Boro have now lost just one of their last 11 matches in all competitions and although they have failed to score more than two goals in a Championship game all season, few people will be backing against them when it comes to securing a playoff spot.
Going forward, however, their away form must improve with just four away wins and 11 goals being recorded in 13 fixtures on their travels.
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Team News
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QPR goalkeeper David Marshall may keep his spot between the sticks for this game with Seny Dieng having only just returned from the Africa Cup of Nations.
However, Yoann Barbet will likely return in place of Sanderson, while Newcastle United loanee Hendrick could be handed his first start.
Chris Willock may come back into the starting lineup, potentially replacing Austin in the front three.
Having played on Friday, Boro boss Wilder may be prepared to stick with many of the players which starred against Man United.
Duncan Watmore is pushing for a recall in place of Folarin Balogun, but that may prove to be the only alteration.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Dickie, Dunne, Barbet; Odubajo, Hendrick, Johansen, Wallace; Willock, Chair; Dykes
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Lumley; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Jones, Crooks, Howson, Taylor; Tavernier; Sporar, Watmore
We say: Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Middlesbrough
In what feels like an important match in the playoff race, both clubs will be wary of losing a game of this magnitude. With that in mind, do not be surprised to see a low-scoring draw play out between two in-form teams.
Top tip
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 Queens Park Rangers win with a probability of 45.68%. A win for Middlesbrough had a probability of 29.68% and a draw had a probability of 24.6%.
The most likely scoreline for a Queens Park Rangers win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.36%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.27%) and 2-0 (7.47%). The likeliest Middlesbrough win was 0-1 (7.27%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.6%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a draw in this match.
