Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between Wycombe Wanderers and Queens Park Rangers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Wycombe Wanderers entertain Queens Park Rangers on Saturday with last season's League One playoff winners aiming to end a run of three straight losses.

QPR have been in poor form themselves though going six games without a win since beating Rotherham United 3-2 back in November.

Match preview

Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth pictured in September 2020 © Reuters

The Chairboys defied the odds in 2020-21 by winning promotion from England's third tier despite their modest budget.

Most expected Gareth Ainsworth's men to struggle in the Championship and, although they are currently in the relegation zone, they have shown they deserve to be competing at this level with several strong performances.

Just two wins from their opening 19 league games of the season have left Wycombe in 21st position and five points from safety.

A win over an out-of-sorts QPR side would give Ainsworth and co hope of survival going into the congested festive period.

The narrow 1-0 loss to Bournemouth last time out only came after Alex Pattison's red card, and running a former Premier League side so close will have given Wycombe confidence going into this one.

Queens Park Rangers' QPR's Ilias Chair celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates against Watford on November 21, 2020 © Reuters

QPR have found life without Eberechi Eze tough so far after selling their star man to Crystal Palace in the summer.

Mark Warburton failed to replace the academy graduate's attacking flair and creativity and his side has struggled as a consequence.

The Loftus Road club finished a respectable 13th in 2019-20 but have failed to build on that in the current campaign, with their 19 points from 19 games leaving them in 19th position.

Warburton's men have lost three out of their last four games on the road and will be desperate to end that run and put some daylight between themselves and the drop zone.

Wycombe Wanderers Championship form: DLDLLL

Queens Park Rangers Championship form: LLLDLD

Team News

Lyndon Dykes scores for QPR against Rotherham in the Championship on November 24, 2020 © Reuters

Midfield man Pattison is suspended following his red card on the south coast, and Curtis Thompson is still out with an injury picked up against Derby County.

Ainsworth will not want to change too much from their last game though after Wycombe's display at the Vitality Stadium, meaning Adebayo Akinfenwa and Scott Kashket are likely to lead the line.

Central midfielders Luke Amos and Charlie Owens remain sidelined with long-term issues for QPR.

The West London side have struggled to score goals recently, bagging just one effort in their last four games meaning Warburton could mix things up in the final third.

Summer signing Lyndon Dykes could be sacrificed to make room for Macauley Bonne up-front after the Scotsman's five-game goalless run.

Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Grimmer, Knight, McCarthy, Jacobson; Gape, Bloomfield, Wheeler, McCleary; Kashket, Akinfenwa

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Kane, Dickie, Barbet, Hamalainen; Cameron, Willock; Samuel, Chair, Adomah; Bonne

SM words green background

We say: Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 Queens Park Rangers

With the R's struggling to put the ball in the back of the net, it could be a perfect opportunity for Wycombe to pick up just their third league win of the season.

Adams Park is a tough place to go, and Ainsworth's charges are due another good result that their recent performances deserve.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting that both teams will score (BTTS - yes) in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

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 42.13%. A win for Wycombe Wanderers had a probability of 29.64% and a draw had a probability of 28.2%.

The most likely scoreline for a Queens Park Rangers win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.95%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.31%) and 0-2 (8.2%). The likeliest Wycombe Wanderers win was 1-0 (10.36%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.12%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.1% likelihood.