Queens Park Rangers vs Watford Predictions, Betting Tips & Match Preview

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s QPR finished a disappointing 12th after their relegation from the Premier League in the 2014/2015 season. The Championship side have played six pre-season club friendlies so far and they did start out strong with back-to-back away wins against Aldershot Town and Dutch giants PSV. However, a 3-1 defeat against Groningen a few days later followed by three consecutive draws (two 1-1’s and one 0-0) against lower league sides Northampton Town, Wycombe Wanderers and Burton Albion over the last ten days has done little to help their confidence. With very little transfer news over the summer and just this pre-season friendly remaining, there’s not much time left for QPR to turn this around in preparation before the opening Championship matchday next Sunday.

Since the appointment of Italian Walter Mazzarri as their new head coach in May, Watford’s pre-season is running as the Hornet’s would have hoped. The 54-year old Italian has arrived with plenty of coaching experience from managing the likes of Sampdoria, Napoli and Inter Milan in his home country and while the standard of the teams played so far is not up to Premier League quality, Mazzarri’s Watford are unbeaten in four matches (W2 D2). Watford have also made some decent young signings such as 20-year old Nigerian forward Isaac Success Ajayi, from Granada, and 19-year old Jerome Sinclair, from Liverpool, alongside more experienced centre-back Christian Kabasele, from Genk.

Fitness will be the main concern for Watford, as over two weeks remain until the start of the Premier League season.On the other hand  Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink will likely be aiming for a first team lineup with just a week until the start of the Championship. Over recent meetings when both sides were in the Championship, the teams were tied when comparing them head-to-head. Watford are, however, a much improved side in recent years, whereas QPR have shown few signs of improvement since their Premier League relegation. Both sides have been tending towards lower scoring matches in their preseasons, with Watford drawing 0-0 last time out and QPR drawing their last three, all with under 2.5 goals.

Combining this analysis with the statistics below, we expect under 2.5 goals at 43/40 to be a safe bet and Watford to win 1-0 at 17/2 with bet365 to be a top value correct score bet for this match.