Potters look to take Championship basement clash

The battle at the bottom of the Championship is intensifying with teams as high as 15th still at serious risk of the drop and two strugglers are set to clash in Staffordshire on Wednesday.

Three points separate lowly Stoke City and QPR, although one club has looked sharper than the other in recent weeks and it should be an intriguing contest.

Team news

Josh Laurent is out until later this month for Stoke, while Tyrese Campbell could feature.

Teenage starlet Rayan Kolli remains out for QPR after picking up a leg injury back on New Year's Day.

Match Odds

 Stoke are Evens to take this tie, but are far from a sure thing and the draw at 9/4 and QPR at 13/5 may offer more value.

Neither side is solid at the back so both teams to score at 5/6 and over 2.5 goals, which has been chalked up at 11/10, both appeal as potential bets.

Stoke forwards Niall Ennis and Tyrese Campbell are 6/1 favourites to open the scoring but it is QPR striker Michael Frey who is the man in form and his first goalscorer odds of 15/2 are intriguing.

QPR draw no bet @ 13/8

Both of these clubs are embroiled in the Championship relegation battle with 15 games to go in the season, but QPR have shown signs of promise recently and could pick up a huge win in Staffordshire.

Things were looking bleak for the Hoops after a run of seven matches without a win in the English second tier but they have responded by collecting eight points from their last four league matches.

As part of that run, they picked up wins against Millwall and Blackburn and have managed draws with Huddersfield and, last Saturday, Norwich.

QPR played extremely well in the 2-2 draw with the Canaries at Loftus Road and caused problems in the final third.

Michael Frey scored the decisive equaliser in that contest and has impressed since arriving from Antwerp back in January.

Indeed, since the turn of the year, QPR have looked a more confident side, scoring in each of their last seven matches.

Stoke may be three points better off than QPR but their league form has been far more concerning.

Five of their last six matches have ended in defeat and their last match on home soil was a 5-0 drubbing by promotion hopefuls Leicester.

The only win in that run was a 1-0 win away to basement boys Rotherham and Stoke defender Ben Wilmot has spoken out about the bad atmosphere around the club right now.

QPR have had their faults this season but they look to be on the right trajectory and are worth selecting in the draw-no-bet market, whereby stakes are returned in the event of a draw.

Over 2.5 goals @ 11/10

QPR have shown they know where the net is in recent weeks, scoring twice in three of their last four games, and the addition of Frey will surely only continue to bolster their quality in the final third.

The Hoops are still leaking goals, though, and over 2.5 goals looks another wise pick in this match at 11/10.

Five of QPR's seven matches in 2024 have featured at least three goals and the same applies to each of Stoke's last four.

The combination of weak defences and the need for points should result in an open game and plenty of goals.

Football betting tips from Betfred Insights.