QPR vs Stoke City Prediction: Potters can edge low-scoring affair

QPR are seriously struggling right now. They sit bottom of the Championship under Marti Cifuentes having failed to win their last 11 league matches. He has kept his job for now and the board have faith he can turn things around, but it remains to be seen how much longer that patience will last. 

Their next test comes at home to Stoke City on Saturday afternoon (15:00), with the Potters unbeaten in their last three games before the international break. Below you will find my QPR vs Stoke City prediction featuring team news and betting tips. 

Cifuentes spoke before the break about how important these two weeks would be for his side in terms of injuries: “I have not been saying much about it in the last weeks but now we have the international break, the main priority for us is to recover players. It is very difficult, especially when they are such important players. Is it an excuse? Not at all. We need to do better and compete better.”

Ilias Chair was the latest to join the injury list as he missed out against Leeds having picked up a problem against Middlesbrough. He is expected to be sidelined until mid-December, while Michael Frey has been set a similar timeline for his return. 

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Full-backs Kenneth Paal and Harrison Ashby are now back in action which is a huge boost to the R’s, but fellow defender Jake Clarke-Salter just can’t shake off the calf issue that has hampered his entire season. Jack Colback’s return is imminent however, after he recovered from the knee surgery he underwent earlier in the campaign. 

For Stoke, Lynden Gooch is yet to play under new manager Narcis Pelach after his knee injury, but it is hoped he will be fit enough to make the trip to the capital this weekend. Meanwhile summer arrival Sam Gallagher just can’t seem to avoid the injuries at the minute, and could miss this trip as well depending on how he has fared over the break. 

Bae Jun-ho, Tom Cannon and Million Manhoef are expected to start as the front three once again as Viktor Johansson continues his impressive form in goal having started for Sweden in their 6-0 success over Azerbaijan. 

QPR vs Stoke City Odds 

QPR are 8/5 to win this game, with Stoke priced at 9/5. That gives the hosts an implied win probability of the 38%, while a draw can be backed at 9/4 and over 2.5 goals is 10/11. BTTS is 8/11 while Tom Cannon is 6/1 to open the scoring at Loftus Road. 

Under 2.5 goals @ 4/5

This QPR team feels like it has an incredible leaky defence, but they’ve 'only' conceded 25 goals in 15 games. Now that is a large number, but three other teams in the division have conceded more goals than them which is perhaps a surprise given they sit bottom of the table. Goalscoring has certainly been a problem with only 12 to their name this season and the absence of Frey and Chair simply cannot be overlooked. 

Both QPR and Stoke have seen under 2.5 goals in 60 per cent of their games in the league this term, and so I think both teams may struggle for goals in this meeting. Stoke scored six goals at home to Portsmouth but if you remove that anomaly, they have only scored 12 in their other 14 matches this term - or fewer than one per match. This isn’t going to be a classic down at Loftus Road, and so I’m happy to back the unders as my first selection.

Stoke to win to nil @ 18/5

I think Stoke can keep a misfiring QPR side at bay here with the experience of Ben Gibson and the quality of Johansson likely to provide a solid base for them to build upon. I don’t think much of this QPR attack, especially without Frey and Chair, and I think the Potters’ success this season can be down to a strong back four. 

Meanwhile, Stoke should have enough in attack, even without Gallagher, to find the net here. I can see a 1-0 or 2-0 win for the away side, as QPR’s misery continues into the winter months. Tough times at Loftus Road...

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