Queens Park Rangers and Huddersfield Town will both look to continue impressive starts to the season on Wednesday, when they square off at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.
Having both recorded wins at the weekend, the two sides sit sixth and seventh in the Championship table respectively, with a one-point gap meaning the visitors would move into the playoff places with a win.
Match preview
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After hitting a slightly inconsistent patch in October, Queens Park Rangers have now managed to build an impressive run of results, heading into Wednesday in a four-game unbeaten run.
Following a draw with Nottingham Forest, when they were held by a late equaliser, Mark Warburton's men posted their seventh league win of the season, defeating Cardiff City 1-0 away from home thanks to Andre Gray's goal, before the London side headed into the recent international break after a 1-1 draw with Blackpool.
Upon their return to action on Saturday, the Hoops put another notch in the wins column, with Chris Willock and Charlie Austin firing them to a 2-0 win over Luton Town on home soil.
They now boast one of the league's strongest attacking records, with only first-placed Fulham and second-placed Bournemouth topping their tally of 30 goals at this stage.
Such an upturn in form has seen QPR take hold of a playoff spot with an impressive tally of 29 points from 19 league outings, and Warburton's men will hope to continue their steady long-term growth on Wednesday.
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They meet a Huddersfield side who have also shown impressive progression so far this season and sit just a point behind in the English second tier.
In the opening 10 league games of the season, the Terriers picked up five victories - just seven fewer than they managed in the entirety of last season - although they did head into the recent international break in disappointing fashion following a draw with strugglers Peterborough United and a defeat to Cardiff City.
Carlos Corberan's men returned in style at the weekend, defeating promotion-chasing West Bromwich Albion 1-0 thanks to Daniel Sinani's 6th-minute goal.
That saw the Yorkshire outfit leapfrog the Terriers and move into seventh spot with 28 points - just one fewer than their hosts and more than half of the tally that they amassed last season, despite being five games away from the half-way point.
Given the previous trajectory of the team, a playoff push may have come earlier than expected at the John Smith's Stadium, but they will be encouraged by the fact that a victory on Wednesday would see them move into the top six.
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Team News
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Queens Park Rangers will certainly remain without centre-back Jordy de Wijs, full-back Sam McCallum and striker Andre Gray through injury, although they could welcome star forward Lyndon Dykes back to action after a gruelling international break with Scotland.
The Scottish striker will have to battle for his spot though, after experienced marksman Charlie Austin scored while leading the line in his absence last time out.
Warburton has plenty of exciting attacking talent at his disposal, and Ilias Chair and Chris Willock will likely support whoever is chosen to spearhead the front line.
Huddersfield have a particularly long list of injuries to deal with, as centre-back Tom Lees, midfielders Jonathan Hogg, Alex Vallejo and Duane Holmes and striker Jordan Rhodes all remain out of contention.
In the absence of Lees, Levi Colwill, Naby Sarr and Matty Pearson should again form a back three, while Scott High and Lewis O'Brien will attempt to fill the void left by Hogg in the engine room.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Dickie, Dunne, Barbet; Adomah, Dozzell, Johansen, Wallace; Chair, Dykes, Willock
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Pearson, Sarr, Colwill; Thomas, High, O'Brien, Toffolo; Sinani, Ward, Koroma
We say: Queens Park Rangers 1-1 Huddersfield Town
Both sides have been impressive so far this season, and we certainly see this being a close encounter and predict a share of the spoils.
A point should be adequate for both sides as they prioritise avoiding a defeat against their rivals in the race for the top six.
Top tip
Sam Varley
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 Queens Park Rangers win with a probability of 54.58%. A draw had a probability of 24.3% and a win for Huddersfield Town had a probability of 21.14%.
The most likely scoreline for a Queens Park Rangers win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.26%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.25%) and 2-1 (9.64%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.53%), while for a Huddersfield Town win it was 0-1 (6.9%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Queens Park Rangers in this match.
