Two sides only separated by goal difference in the top half of the Championship table will do battle at Loftus Road on Saturday, as Queens Park Rangers welcome Sheffield Wednesday.
The 10th-placed hosts leapfrogged their visitors with a fourth straight victory in midweek, with both teams trailing the playoff spots by four points.
Match preview
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Queens Park Rangers return to Loftus Road on Saturday aiming to continue a fine run of Championship form, having moved into playoff contention in recent weeks after a disappointing start to their campaign.
In their first full season under the management of Marti Cifuentes, the Rs sat at the foot of the table after 16 games in November with just one win and 11 points on the board, but they have since added 27 points to that tally in 12 further attempts.
Across those games, Cifuentes's men have added eight notches to their wins column and only suffered one defeat, a Boxing Day loss to Swansea City before they played out a 1-1 draw away at Norwich City and put four more three-point hauls together heading into the weekend.
They kicked off 2025 by making it five straight home league wins, beating Watford and Luton Town, before Rayan Kolli fired them to a 1-0 win away at Plymouth Argyle last weekend and Kenneth Paal and Koki Saito netted goals in a 2-1 triumph away at Hull City on Tuesday.
Having now climbed from the bottom three up to 10th spot and within four points of the top six thanks to their eye-catching two-month run, Queens Park Rangers will now aim to make it five straight Championship victories and six at Loftus Road to continue their rise towards the playoff places.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, head to London aiming to move back ahead of the hosts and strengthen their own playoff bid having lost ground in recent weeks.
Also in their first full season under the management of Danny Rohl, who like Cifuentes guided them to safety late last season, Sheffield Wednesday have enjoyed an improved campaign, currently sitting 11th on 38 points from 28 outings.
The Owls have picked up 10 victories from those games, with the most recent being a 4-2 home triumph over Derby County on New Year's Day, but they have since put just two more points on the board in three further attempts, firstly drawing 2-2 at home to Millwall thanks to Gabriel Otegbayo's late leveller, before they suffered a 3-0 defeat away at Yorkshire rivals Leeds United last Sunday.
Bristol City then visited Hillsborough on Tuesday, and Rohl's men again had to settle for a point in a 2-2 draw, having twice led through Djeidi Gassama and Di'Shon Bernard before Ross McCrorie forced a share of the spoils in the 86th minute.
Having now dropped to 11th spot following their slight dip, Sheffield Wednesday will be keen to avoid slipping out the playoff picture and will bid to bounce back to winning ways and return to the top 10 with what would be a sixth Championship win of the season on the road, with no side outside of the top four topping their current tally of five.
Team News
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Marti Cifuentes should field a similar Queens Park Rangers starting XI to Tuesday's away victory over Hull City, although Koki Saito has a claim to come into the attack from the start after netting the winner off the bench in that game.
He could join Kieran Morgan and Ilias Chair behind a lone striker, with top scorer Michael Frey and 19-year-old Rayan Kolli competing to lead the line while Zan Celar is sidelined by an injury alongside Steve Cook, Lucas Andersen and Karamoko Dembele.
Elsewhere, Jonathan Varane and Sam Field will continue their midfield partnership, while Jimmy Dunne, Ronnie Edwards, Morgan Fox and Kenneth Paal should line up in an unaltered back four, in the absence of Cook.
Sheffield Wednesday will remain without Akin Famewo, Dominic Iorfa and Nathaniel Chalobah due to injury issues, while midfielder Shea Charles has seen his loan spell from Southampton come to an end unless the Owls are able to agree an extension.
If Charles is not able to feature, Svante Ingelsson and Liam Palmer will both hope to partner captain Barry Bannan in the engine room, while Michael Ihiekwe will continue alongside Di'Shon Bernard and Max Lowe in a back three following his return from a long injury layoff.
Djeidi Gassama will continue in a front three after netting his fifth goal of the season against Bristol City, while Josh Windass will play a key role having netted a team-high tally of 10 thus far.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Nardi; Dunne, Edwards, Fox, Paal; Field, Varane; Saito, Morgan, Chair; Kolli
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Beadle; Bernard, Ihiekwe, Lowe; Valery, Palmer, Bannan, Johnson; Gassama, Windass, Musaba
We say: Queens Park Rangers 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Both sides have enjoyed major improvements this season and will back themselves to cause problems for the opposition in what should be an entertaining encounter in the capital.
With momentum and home advantage on their side, we see Queens Park Rangers managing a fifth straight Championship win.
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Sam Varley
