QPR vs Aston Villa Predictions

QPR enjoyed a fantastic midweek experience, seeing off Sheffield Wednesday at home 3-0 with some great football at times. Goals from summer signings Tomer Hemed and Nakhi Wells sealed the win, with Luke Freeman also getting a goal to beat a side who had been in good form themselves. It moved the club into the top half for the first time this season and represented their third win in four matches.

The club had beaten Ipswich 2-0 away from home in their last match, also playing some decent football and controlling the game for large periods. Tomer Hemed scored a penalty to win that match and he has been an astute signing for QPR since coming on loan from Brighton, acting as a focal point for QPR’s other attackers to feed off. Now Nakhi Wells has got his first goal since 2017, he can also kick on to add pace to their attack.

A win away at Reading and a home draw with Derby have completed this impressive unbeaten run for QPR, who are now just four points off the play-offs. It is testament to manager Steve McClaren that he has been able to turn around the club’s fortunes after enduring such a torrid start to the season, which kicked off with four straight losses, including a 7-1 defeat to West Brom. They now look a decent outfit, particularly in attack, with Hemed and Wells up front, and Luke Freeman and Eberechi Eze providing dynamism on the wings.

On the other hand, Aston Villa fell to their first loss under new manager Dean Smith, beaten by Norwich away from home in a 2-1 defeat. They had started off the better side, scoring early on through James Chester, however, lost main striker Tammy Abraham to injury and lost their way from there. Although they had an effort cleared off the line, Villa faded late on and conceded two Jordan Rhodes goals to compound their misery and come away with nothing. Whilst it wasn’t the worst the team have played, Villa have only won once in six now.

That victory was in Dean Smith’s first match at home to Swansea. The team won 1-0 thanks to a Tammy Abraham winner and looked strong throughout the match, keeping their second clean sheet of the season. With the emotion of former Sir Doug Ellis’ passing, it was always going to be a fired up performance and they managed to do it in Dean Smith’s first match.

However, other than that, it has not been good enough for a club of Aston Villa’s stature. Things had started to go wrong towards the end of Steve Bruce’s tenure, with lacklustre draws with Bristol City and Preston, whilst in their first game without him, Villa were defeated 2-1 by Millwall. In that game also, Villa took the lead through Abraham but ultimately lost the match. Thus, the mentality of these players has been shattered and Smith has a lot of work to do in order to turn them into promotion candidates.

With QPR in sparkling form and Villa scoring in every Championship game so far this season but keeping two clean sheets, we think this could be an exciting match, with both teams scoring at least. QPR have the momentum but Villa have the stronger team on paper, so it could be a tight match, with little to separate the sides. Thus, in terms of a correct score prediction, we think 2-2 is appropriate in match where the attackers will take centre stage.