West Brom Vs QPR: Big Bet Preview
West Brom Vs QPR
(Sat 12th Sep, 12:30PM UK - Sky Sports)
Oh my word, it’s a Championship promotion decider! Okay, I might be getting a tiny bit ahead of myself, but these two sides have both had incredible starts to the season. We’ve only played six games, but WBA and QPR seriously look like the real deal. With Albion top of the table and QPR in 4th, this weekend’s Big Bet will help us figure out which, if any, of these two has what it takes to go the distance in the promotion race. It’s all well and good beating rubbish teams like Derby in midweek, but to be a real promotion contender you need to be good at putting away the teams around you. Who will crumble under the pressure and who will continue their dynamite start in this week’s Big Bet?
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West Brom and QPR have been two of the feel-good stories of the Championship season so far. Rangers were middling-to-poor last year, finishing in an entirely mediocre 15th place, while West Brom would’ve gone down to the third tier had it not been for James Morrison’s miraculous intervention. It’s amazing what a long, hot summer can do for you. The break has rejuvenated these two sides and, after a summer window that has seen both improve in all areas, it looks like they’re capable of making a serious push at a long awaited Premier League return. Who’d have thought it?
They’ve both played some good sides, and they’ve both played some poor sides. It’s about time they put each other through their paces to finally decide which is better: hoops or stripes?
Form
Visitors QPR got off to a flying start to the campaign with a hugely convincing 3-1 win away at Pompey to start the season. Since then they have had a series of narrow games including two 0-0 draws, two 2-1 wins, and a narrow 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough. They’re currently two games without a win and two games without a goal, a tricky trip to West Brom is either the last thing they need in this form or the perfect game to breathe some life back into their season. Time will tell!
League-leading Albion have, unsurprisingly, been good. Opening day victory over Norwich came through a naughty handball goal, and they have gone on to win three more games, draw one, and only lose once. Also to Middlesbrough, funnily enough! Maybe they’re the real team to watch this season. They’ve won their last two games 1-0, despite spending the better part of an hour at Pride Park in midweek down to ten men. Even with a man disadvantage, they managed to restrict Derby to creating very little in terms of chances. Either West Brom are excellent, or Derby are really bad. I’m leaning somewhere in the middle.
QPR’s lightning start has fizzled as of late, while Albion look capable of beating just about anyone. A win in this weekend’s game would be a massive boost for either side.
Head-to-head
It’s bad news for QPR fans this time, West Brom have had their number over recent years. In their last 10 meetings, the Baggies have won 6, with 2 draws and just 2 QPR wins making up the rest of the results. That being said, one of those rare QPR wins was last season, when West Brom were truly awful, so the R’s might just be starting to turn the tide in this one-sided relationship!
Away supporters will just be hoping there isn’t a repeat of the 7-1 thrashing QPR suffered at the Hawthorns in 2018. Not their finest moment.
It’s been a difficult ground to go to for QPR over the last few seasons, but the record can’t go on forever. Can this crop of R’s stars break the curse?
Key Matchup
Jimmy-Jay Morgan vs Jimmy Dunne
It’s a Jimmy-off at the Hawthorns this weekend! West Brom’s young attacking starlet will have his work cut out against Dunne at the heart of the opposition defence, but it doesn’t seem like anything phases him at the moment.
Morgan arrived from Chelsea in the summer after a promising season on loan at Peterborough in League One, and has just exploded onto the scene at this level. He has notched up 5 goals and 3 assists in 8 competitive games for his new side, and his contributions have been crucial. He scored in the 1-0 win over Watford, set up the goal in the 1-0 victory at Derby, and scored and assisted one each in the 2-1 win against Norwich. Without Morgan’s contributions, who knows where West Brom would be. He is a creative dynamo down the left-hand side for the Albion, and one that may be near-impossible to stop.
One man who will have a good go at it, however, is QPR’s Jimmy Dunne. This is now Dunne’s sixth season as a QPR player, and he has proven himself to be one of the most dependable defenders in the division across that period. As well as being extremely solid defensively, he also likes popping up with a goal or an assist every now and then, and he already has one to his name this season. Operating on the right side of the two centre backs, and with QPR’s preference for marauding full-backs, Dunne will be tasked directly with halting Morgan’s attempts at giving the home side the advantage.
It’s the question on everyone’s lips: who has the best Jimmy in the Championship? This weekend’s Big Bet is where we settle the score once and for all.
Preview
I don’t know if I’m losing my mind here, but I can really only see this going one way. As good as QPR have been, this one has to be a fairly comfortable home win as far as I’m concerned. You heard it here first. Stripes > Hoops.
Albion are in better form, have better players, have home advantage, and a great record against their opposition. It can’t be as simple as that, can it? Julien Stéphan’s side are sure to throw a spanner or two in the works, and they won’t go down without a fight, but their lack of pure firepower up front is becoming a concern.
I’m backing the Baggies to continue their reign of terror over the second tier, which way do you think it’ll swing in this week’s Big Bet?