Bournemouth welcome QPR to Vitality Stadium in Tuesday’s stand-out tie from the latest round of Sky Bet Championship fixtures.
With Fulham and Stoke not in action until Wednesday evening, whoever wins this match could go second although climbing to the summit isn’t out of the question if West Brom slip up at home to Derby.
Team News
Bournemouth have no fresh injury concerns to report as Ryan Christie and Jamal Lowe look to start after making their debuts as substitutes in Saturday’s win over Barnsley.
Lewis Cook (knee) and Junior Stanislas (hamstring) remain ruled out.
QPR could be without Ilias Chair and Chris Willock after the pair suffered knocks in Saturday’s comeback 3-3 draw at Reading, although Chair is the more likely to miss out after having recently returned from injury.
Luke Amos, Sam Field (both knee) and Lee Wallace (hamstring) are still ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Bournemouth are unbeaten in three of last five meetings against QPR (W2, D1, L2).
- QPR have won two of their last five trips to Bournemouth (W2, D1, L2).
- Three of Bournemouth’s five goals in their last two home matches have been scored by Dominic Solanke, with the other two coming from Jordan Zemura.
- Mark Warburton’s Hoops have scored three goals in each of their three away league matches so far this season, with seven of their nine goals coming after half-time.
- Three of four Championship matches this season refereed by Keith Stroud have finished in draws, with the only exception being Coventry’s 1-0 away win at Blackpool in the first midweek round of season.
Prediction
Following Saturday’s clinical yet dominant win over Barnsley, Bournemouth now have a huge chance to kick-on now that they have adapted to Scott Parker’s style with consistent form in results and clean sheets across their opening six league matches.
QPR though will certainly pose a huge test because Mark Warburton has done an excellent job to turn the Hoops into a serious attacking team, who have scored three goals in their three away matches this season so cannot be underestimated at all costs.
Either way, I would be shocked if we don’t see goals and a high-scoring draw isn’t out of question here but if Bournemouth score first, I fancy them to have enough in them to get that win and likewise for QPR so this is a tricky match to call at present.
Prediction: Bournemouth 2-2 QPR
Result: Bournemouth 2-1 QPR