Ben Parker has made his prediction for tomorrow night’s Leeds United vs. Queens Park Rangers match.
The Whites will be hoping to go back-to-back winners for the first time since before the international break, building on their 4-3 victory at Middlesbrough on Monday night.
Following Leicester City’s convincing 5-0 victory over Southampton, which virtually assured them of promotion, Leeds and Ipswich Town are now vying for the second spot.
Despite having played one more game, Leeds leads Ipswich by one point at the moment in second place. Daniel Farke’s team is playing first this weekend, so a victory would put more pressure on Ipswich before their trips to Coventry City and Hull.
BBC pundit Jon Newsome finds it “disgusting” that Leeds will have had 48 hours less preparation time than QPR for the match, but perhaps this will work to Leeds’ advantage.
Parker forecasts Friday’s QPR vs. Leeds match outcome.
Leeds should enter this match with a renewed sense of confidence after scoring four goals to get back on track.
They might, however, face a QPR team that sets up similarly to how Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland did recently when they faced Leeds.
Since Leeds has had trouble playing against deep defenses this season and QPR is so close to making it out of the league, it would not be shocking if they were content to settle for a point.
Parker believes Leeds will have enough to win three points, but he can see QPR setting up that way. Parker made this prediction on the most recent episode of the LS11 Podcast.
“Loftus Road always feels like a tight, compact ground, and that [QPR not being safe] probably adds to how they will setup, being defensive,” he stated. They have four points, but you would think they are somewhat safe because there are so many teams separating them from the bottom three.
They could pose a challenge to Leeds because they are playing for a point and, if they can secure one, that should guarantee them a spot in the Championship the following season.
But after Monday, Summerville was back to his best, Rutter appeared to be in the ballpark of his best, Gnonto was flying, and Bamford scored. The front four had a mixed performance against Sunderland and Blackburn, but they all performed well the other night. That is a significant distinction.
It will be close; I don’t see it being a basketball match like the one against Boro. All we need is a moment from one of the four players, and that’s what we’ll get. Being patient and then playing strong defense as a unit will help QPR get a few minutes. We’ll win the game with a clean sheet.Forecast: Leeds 0–2 QPR.
Leeds must overcome their poor away performance against QPR.
This is a crucial game for Leeds in their pursuit of the top two because a loss would give Ipswich the advantage going into their next two encounters.
And Leeds will have to do a lot better than their recent record at Loftus Road—which is not good reading—if they are to win the three points.
Leeds has only triumphed once in their previous seven visits to QPR, which includes three straight defeats. Their last victory occurred in December 2017 thanks to a 3-1 victory secured by a hat-trick from Kemar Roofe.