Bristol City and QPR square off in an English Championship fixture on Thursday with both teams in need of a turnaround in fortunes. They have had similar problems lately and there appears to be little to separate them.
Having spent much of the campaign the bottom half of the table, the task for Bristol City will be to avoid getting dragged into the relegation scrap. They are eight points above the bottom three and will be keen to increase that gap.
Bristol City have not been at their best lately, claiming just one win from their last four Championship matches. Among their problems is a leaky defence which has conceded five goals in their last two matches.
Nigel Pearson’s men have maintained a decent record at Ashton Gate with just one defeat in their last five home matches. However, that defeat came in their previous Championship fixture as they were beaten 3-2 by Huddersfield Town.
QPR travel to Bristol City off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Monday night. They have not played since December 5 due to Covid, and failed to make their superior possession count and struggled to break down the Cherries backline.
That was the second straight defeat for QPR, who also lost 2-0 to Stoke City in their previous fixture. Mark Warburton’s men have slipped just outside the playoff places but a turnaround in results could see them rise to as high as fifth on the table.
Those two defeats came at home, which means QPR have fared much better on their travels in recent weeks. They are unbeaten in their last three away matches, claiming two wins in that run.
How the bookies view it
QPR have a slight edge among the bookies and are priced at 6/4 by betway to claim the win. A victory for Bristol City is valued at 79/40 by SBK while bet365 is offering 12/5 for a draw.
Head to head
Bristol City have a 14-10 advantage with 12 draws from 36 previous matches against QPR. They also ran out 2-1 winners in the reverse fixture back in September.
Players to watch
Andreas Weimann is the top scorer for Bristol City with 11 goals and will be the one to watch on Thursday. The striker netted a brace last time out against Huddersfield and is priced at 11/4 by Paddy Power to get on the score sheet.
Forwards Andre Gray and Chris Willock have impressed for QPR in recent weeks with two goals each in the last three away matches. Unibet has Gray at 5/2 to find the net on Thursday while also offering 22/5 on Willock in the same market.
Anything else catch the eye?
Bristol City and QPR have both been on target in two of their last three meetings and Thursday’s clash could be tipped to follow a similar pattern at 4/5 with William Hill. Bristol’s last two matches have produced over 3.5 goals which is priced at 13/5 with BetVictor.
There have been more goals after the break in Bristol City’s last two matches, so the second half could be tipped as the highest scoring half at 11/10 with Skybet.
This England Championship match between Bristol City and QPR will be played on Dec 30, 2021 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Bristol City vs QPR prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
