Having lost their two opening Championship matches, the suggestion seemed to be that Newcastle weren’t going to have things all their own way this season in the same way they did when they last dropped out of the top flight. However 5 straight wins in all competitions have put the plan for an immediate return to the Premier League back on track. They still trail surprise leaders Huddersfield by 4 points but Newcastle’s comfortable 2-0 win at Derby on Saturday has seen the Magpies rise to 2nd and that is an ominous sign for the rest of the division at this early stage of the season.
QPR are only 2 points further back though so it has been a pretty good start for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and his side. They would have been disappointed with their weekend result though as a 73rd minute goal from Sam Gallagher ensured they would only take 1 point from a home game with bottom club Blackburn. They were also beaten 2-0 by 2nd bottom Preston in their previous home game so there a few question-marks about QPR’s home form coming into this match, which clearly will be considerably tougher.
Not only do Newcastle have on paper the strongest starting eleven in the division, they also have one of the best squads, which can be key in this division. The likes of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ciaran Clark, Ayoze Pérez and Deandre Yedlin were all only on the bench at the weekend so Newcastle have the luxury of being able to make a few changes and not necessarily weaken the side, something few sides can do.
The way they are playing right now, you’d fancy them to go just about anywhere in the league and win and given QPR’s last two poor home performances, backing Newcastle to Win at 11/10 looks to offer the best value here.
Head To Head
QPR won 2-1 the last time the sides met in the Premier League in May 2015 but had lost their previous 4 games against the Magpies.
Stats
Newcastle have won 7 of their last 8 Championship away matches (including their last spell in this league). Both teams have scored in only 2 of QPR's last 8 Championship games.