Cardiff City travel to the English capital this weekend to take on Queens Park Rangers as they continue their bid to avoid the drop in the Championship.
The Bluebirds fell into the relegation zone in midweek, as Derby County beat Preston North End to leapfrog both Cardiff and Hull City in the standings.
Match preview
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After finishing last season in 12th place under Erol Bulut, there was hope that they could push up the table and challenge for the playoffs this time around.
However, Bulut was sacked after the Welsh outfit secured just one point from their opening six league fixtures of the season, which was their worst start to a campaign in 94 years.
Cardiff picked up 16 points in 12 games under interim boss Omer Riza, leading to the former Arsenal man being appointed permanently.
The visitors have been inconsistent throughout the campaign, which is a major reason why they now find themselves in the relegation zone with limited time to turn things around.
Shipping goals has been a real issue for the Welsh side, with only Plymouth Argyle conceding more than the 63 goals that Cardiff have allowed in so far this season.
Of those 63 goals, 50 have come under the guidance of Riza, with his side only keeping six clean sheets in the league all season.
After losing their first three matches in March, the Bluebirds ended the month in better form, as they secured a vital 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers, before picking up another precious point in a 1-1 draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday in their last encounter.
They will be hopeful of taking something from this weekend's match, as they come up against a QPR side that have lost five of their past six matches in the division.
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The R's were only three points off the playoff positions when they last secured a win in the league back in February, when QPR thrashed Derby 4-0.
Their poor run of form has seen them slide from 11th down to 15th, and they are now 12 points off the playoff positions, and only five points clear of the drop zone.
With a five-point cushion and a short amount of time left in the season, the hosts are not safe yet, and head coach Marti Cifuentes has admitted that for now, the club's focus is purely on survival, something that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
There has been a feeling among the fanbase at the club that they have been on the beach in recent weeks, which has led to them being in this uncomfortable position in the table.
A victory for Cardiff this weekend would bring the Bluebirds to within two points of the London outfit and drag the hosts even closer to the relegation zone.
Although the London side have been in bad form of late, four of the last five defeats that they have suffered have been away from home.
In contrast, the two games at home in their six-game winless run saw QPR gain one point from a possible six in difficult fixtures against promotion-chasing Leeds United and Sheffield United.
Back in front of a home crowd this weekend, they will be hopeful that they can get an important three points to brush away any fears of getting dragged into a relegation battle.
The hosts will hope to take confidence from the last meeting between the sides, as QPR got the better of Cardiff back in November, with a brace from Zan Celar securing the victory for them on that occasion.
Team News
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The hosts will be without Ilias Chair for at least four weeks after he suffered an injury in the match against Middlesbrough last month.
Elsewhere, Celar, who netted two goals against the Bluebirds in November, is out due to injury, alongside Sam Field and Jake Clarke-Salter, while Koki Saito is out due to suspension.
Rayan Kolli and Steve Cook are further doubts for Rangers, as the injuries continue to mount at Loftus Road.
Meanwhile, Cardiff will be missing some key players, with both Joe Ralls (calf) and Aaron Ramsey (hamstring) both expected to miss the rest of the campaign.
In further blows for the visitors, Jak Alnwick (hamstring) is out, while Alex Robertson and Jesper Daland (leg) are also doubts for this match.
On a positive note, Ollie Tanner returned from injury in last weekend's draw with Sheffield Wednesday, and he is in contention to feature once again this weekend.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Nardi; Paal, Fox, Edwards, Dunne; Colback, Varane, Andersen, Morgan, Dembele; Lloyd
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Horvath; O'Dowda, Bagan, Fish, Ng; Chambers, Mannsverk, Ashford; Alves, Salech, Davies
We say: Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Cardiff City
Both sides would love to be able to claim all three points this weekend in what should be an intriguing clash near the bottom of the Championship.
However, with the stakes so high, we can see this being a cagey match that ends in a draw, which will not really suit either team.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
