Match Preview
QPR vrs Fulham
Championship Match Day 17 1920 at Craven Cottage
Friday 22nd November 2019 KO: 19:45
Referee:
James Linington (Newport, IOW)
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Seventh will welcome 10th in the Championship on Friday night as Fulham host Queens Park Rangers in the West London derby.
Fulham have 26 points to show from their 16 league matches this season, while QPR sit three positions behind on 24 points ahead of the mouthwatering contest at Craven Cottage.
Scott Parker's side are actually only five points off second-placed Preston North End, and a win against QPR would lead them nicely into another home game with Derby County next Tuesday.
Fulham's task has been made a lot harder, though, by the fact that they will be without leading scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic through suspension. The 25-year-old has scored 12 times in 16 Championship matches this season but picked up his fifth booking of the season against Birmingham City before the international break.
The Cottagers went six games unbeaten in the league between August 30 and October 5 but have lost two of their last five against Stoke City and Hull City, suffering a 3-0 defeat to the latter in their last fixture at Craven Cottage.
Fulham have only lost one of their five Championship clashes with QPR since September 2015, although the points were shared when they last locked horns at Craven Cottage in March 2018.
Since being relegated from the Premier League at the end of the 2014-15 campaign, it has been a struggle for QPR in the second tier. Indeed, they have finished 12th, 18th, 16th and 19th in their last four seasons and are not considered to be genuine challengers for promotion this term.
The R's have made a solid if unspectacular start, though, picking up 24 points from their 16 matches to sit 10th in the table. A win on Friday night would actually move them above Fulham into seventh, leaving them just one point off the playoffs before the rest of the Championship take to the field this weekend.
QPR's high position in the table is more surprising when considering that they have conceded 30 times in their 16 league matches this season, which is the second-worst record at this stage. Indeed, only bottom-of-the-table Barnsley have shipped more goals during the 2019-20 campaign.
On the flip side, only the top two Preston and West Bromwich Albion have scored more than QPR's 26. Unlike Fulham, the goals have been shared around with Jordan Hugill scoring six, Nakhi Wells eight and Eberechi Eze six, which stands the team in good stead moving forward.
QPR have only actually beaten Fulham once in the Championship and just twice in the league since May 1983. Their last victory in this fixture came at Craven Cottage in October 2016, though, and the capital side have already picked up three away victories in the Championship this term.
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Fulham have lost just one of their past seven league matches against QPR (W4 D2), though that defeat was at Craven Cottage in October 2016.
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QPR are unbeaten in their last two away league visits to Fulham (W1 D1) since losing five in a row between 1999 and 2015.
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The last time QPR won away in the league was 2 games ago against Hull. The last time Fulham lost a home league game was 1 matches ago against Hull.
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Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored more Championship goals than any other player this season (12) and has scored seven of Fulham's last nine league goals.
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Fulham haven't lost consecutive home Championship matches since October 2016 under Slavisa Jokanovic.
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Of the 8 league games Fulham has won at home, they scored first 7 times.
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Fulham last kept a clean sheet at home 4 games ago
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QPR won their last away league London derby against Millwall - they haven't won consecutive away London derbies since October 2010.
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QPR manager Mark Warburton's one away league match at Fulham was in April 2015, winning 4-1 with Brentford when the Cottagers were managed by Kit Symons.
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Of the 11 away games QPR has lost, they conceded first 9 times.
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The last time QPR kept a clean sheet away in the league was in a 0-0 draw against Millwall in April this year.