West Bromwich Albion can ensure automatic promotion back to the Premier League with victory over Queens Park Rangers on the final day of the Championship this Wednesday.
West Brom currently sit one point above third-placed Brentford after 45 matches, while QPR sit 14th and realistically have little to play for on the final day.
Match preview
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West Bromwich Albion's automatic promotion hopes were dealt a huge blow as Huddersfield Town enjoyed a 2-1 victory over the Baggies at the weekend - a result which all but secured the Terriers' survival before Danny Cowley's surprise dismissal.
Arsenal loanee Emile Smith-Rowe netted a late winner for Huddersfield to leave West Brom winless in three and confirm Leeds United's status as champions before the final day.
Slaven Bilic admitted post-match that his side "crumbled under the pressure" at the John Smith's Stadium, but West Brom's destiny is still in their own hands at this very late stage.
The goal for the Baggies is simple - three points against QPR and they make an automatic return to the big time for the 2020-21 campaign. Anything else opens the door for Brentford to leapfrog Bilic's men, although the Bees suffered a dismal defeat of their own at the hands of Stoke City last time out.
Brentford are expected to beat 23rd-placed Barnsley in midweek, so the onus is on West Brom to deliver on the final day lest they risk dropping out of the top two and settling for a spot in the playoffs, but the Baggies have only suffered three league defeats at home all season.
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Meanwhile, QPR's final home game of the season was a spectacle to remember as the Rs recorded a 4-3 victory over Millwall on Saturday, dashing the Lions' playoff dreams in the process.
The thrilling victory was only their second since the restart and their first win on familiar territory since February, meaning Mark Warburton's men should be heading to the Hawthorns ready to throw caution to the wind with their bottom-half finish already confirmed.
QPR can only rise one place higher to 13th should they triumph and Wigan Athletic lose on Wednesday, but the Latics are on a strong run of form despite the off-the-field issues bedevilling the club at present.
However, coming up against a promotion-chasing West Brom side will not fill the QPR faithful with too much confidence, especially seeing as Warburton's men have only picked up two wins from their last 12 on the road.
Second-half goals from Nathan Ferguson and Matheus Pereira saw West Brom march to a 2-0 victory when the sides last locked horns in August.
West Brom Championship form: WWWDDL
QPR Championship form: LWLLDW
Team News
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Aside from Kieran Gibbs, who is nursing a hamstring injury, Bilic has a clean bill of health for the visit of QPR.
Following his scathing assessment of his side's performance against Huddersfield, Bilic could shuffle the pack as he looks to ensure automatic promotion to the top flight.
Filip Krovinovic is one player who is pushing for a starting role, while Kamil Grosicki and Charlie Austin will be hopeful of featuring from the first whistle after appearing off the bench at the weekend.
As for QPR, Warburton has confirmed that Bright Osayi-Samuel is nearing a move away from the club after Club Brugge reportedly agreed a deal for the 22-year-old.
Samuel did not feature against Millwall and that is expected to be the case again here, and it remains to be seen whether or not Jordan Hugill will be fit in time for the final day.
Veteran defender Angel Rangel is facing a nine-month spell on the sidelines with a torn Achilles.
West Brom possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; O'Shea, Hegazi, Ajayi, Townsend; Sawyers, Livermore; Pereira, Krovinovic, Grosicki; Austin
QPR possible starting lineup:
Lumley; Kane, Barbet, Masterson, Manning; Cameron, Ball; Shodipo, Chair, Eze; Oteh
We say: West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Queens Park Rangers
West Brom know what is at stake here - anything other than a win and their hopes of automatic promotion could be scuppered. However, they are facing a QPR side with a poor record away from home, so we are backing the Baggies to secure a route back to the Premier League with a routine victory on the final day.
Ben Knapton
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 West Bromwich Albion win with a probability of 54.93%. A draw had a probability of 23.5% and a win for Queens Park Rangers had a probability of 21.59%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Bromwich Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.04%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.8%) and 2-0 (9.71%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.14%), while for a Queens Park Rangers win it was 0-1 (6.34%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4.9% likelihood.
