Promotion hopefuls Queens Park Rangers and West Bromwich Albion will lock horns at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium for their Championship contest on Saturday afternoon.
The Baggies, who sit one place and one point above the Hoops, came from behind to secure all three points in September's reverse fixture, thanks to Karlan Grant's brace in the final 15 minutes.
Match preview
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Having claimed back-to-back away league victories against Bristol City and Birmingham City, QPR had to beat League One leaders Rotherham United the hard way in their FA Cup third-round clash last weekend.
After a goalless draw in 90 minutes, substitute Lyndon Dykes cancelled out Michael Ihiekwe's opener in extra time to force the tie to penalties, with goalkeeper Jordan Archer saving the decisive spot kick to help the Hoops win 8-7 on penalties.
Mark Warburton labelled his side an "average team" in his post-match interview but credited the spirit that his players showed for fighting until the end to progress into the fourth round, where they will face Peterborough United next month.
QPR's next challenge is a home clash with playoff rivals West Brom, a side who they have struggled against in recent meetings. Four of their last five encounters have ended in defeat and they have conceded 16 goals in the process.
While the Hoops will be keen to end their winless run against the Baggies on Saturday, they will also be seeking to avoid a third successive defeat at home, after losing without reply to Stoke City and Bournemouth in their last two games.
Victory for Warburton's men would see them leapfrog West Brom into fourth place, with a game in hand on both Blackburn Rovers and Bournemouth in the top three.
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West Bromwich Albion extended their winless run across all competitions to four matches when they suffered an extra-time defeat at home to Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup third round last weekend.
Despite taking the lead two minutes after the break through Callum Robinson, the dismissal of Baggies centre-back Cedric Kirpe benefited the visitors, who equalised in the 81st minute thanks to Jakub Moder, before Neal Maupay scored the winner eight minutes into extra time to send the Seagulls through to the fourth round.
A lack of discipline has seemingly proven costly for Valerien Ismael's side over the last week, with three red cards and six bookings in their last two matches. In addition, no Championship team has received more red cards than West Brom (five) so far this season, while only five clubs have picked up more yellow cards.
West Brom's slight dip in form has seen them slip further away from the automatic promotion places, with six points now separating them in fourth with second-placed Fulham, who have a game in hand.
While West Brom remain the only Championship side yet to lose on home soil this season, Ismael's men head into Saturday's contest after winning only two of their last 10 league matches away from home.
However, the Baggies have found a way to grind out results at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium in recent years, scoring in each of their last nine visits to QPR, winning five and drawing twice in the process.
With 23 league matches still to play, Ismael is aware that there is plenty of time for his West Brom side to mount a charge for the top two, and a victory away against promotion rivals QPR would be the perfect way to start a much-needed run of form.
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Team News
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QPR will be without Ilias Chair, Seny Dieng and Osman Kakay as they are all away on international duty with their respective countries for the Africa Cup of Nations.
After around six weeks out due to injury, Moses Odubajo featured for 30 minutes against Rotherham and will be in contention to start at right wing-back on Saturday ahead of Albert Adomah.
Defenders Yoann Barbet and Robert Dickie, who have played every minute in the Championship this term, are set to start once again, and they could shield January signing David Marshall, who is expected to replace Archer between the sticks after the latter picked up an injury while saving the decisive penalty kick last weekend.
Dykes will be hoping that he can force his way back into the first XI ahead of either Charlie Austin or Andre Gray, while Chris Willock could start in the number 10 role just behind the front two.
As for West Brom, Cedric Kipre will serve a one-match suspension, though Alex Mowatt and Sam Johnstone have returned from their own one-game bans and are expected to start in midfield and in goal respectively.
Robert Snodgrass, Dara O'Shea and Kean Bryan are all suffering with injuries, while Semi Ajayi is away on international duty with Nigeria at AFCON.
Ismael named a strong starting lineup against Brighton and he is unlikely to make too many changes this weekend, but Mowatt's expected inclusion would likely see Taylor Gardner-Hickman drop to the bench, while January signing Daryl Dike could make his debut up front.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Marshall; Dickie, Dunne, Barbet; Odubajo, Ball, Johansen, Wallace; Willock; Austin, Dykes
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Clarke, Bartley, Townsend; Furlong, Livermore, Mowatt, Reach; Grant, Diangana; Robinson
We say: Queens Park Rangers 2-2 West Bromwich Albion
Nine of the last 11 meetings between QPR and West Brom have seen both teams score and another contest with plenty of goalmouth action could be on the cards on Saturday.
A win for either side would greatly benefit their promotion push, but as there is little to separate these two teams, they may have to settle for an entertaining score draw at Loftus Road on this occasion.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 41.73%. A win for Queens Park Rangers had a probability of 31.96% and a draw had a probability of 26.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a West Bromwich Albion win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.53%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.74%) and 0-2 (7.36%). The likeliest Queens Park Rangers win was 1-0 (8.97%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.51%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 9% likelihood.
