- QPR sit bottom of the standings and are five points adrift of safety
- Stoke are 13th and four points clear of the relegation zone
- Recommended bet: Stoke to win

Championship basement club QPR will be seeking just a second league win of the season when they welcome an improving Stoke to Loftus Road on Saturday.

It has been a miserable start to the campaign for the R's, who have lost six of their last nine matches and are without a home win in the league this season — a  sequence that has ramped up the pressure on head coach Marti Cifuentes.

Stoke have already made a change in the dugout this term, replacing Steven Schumacher with Narcis Pelach, and after a slow start to life in the Potteries, the Spaniard saw his side pick up seven points from their three matches directly before the international break.

Team news

QPR will be boosted by the return of defensive duo Morgan Fox and Kenneth Paal following respective leg and thigh issues, while Jack Colback is also nearing a comeback from his leg injury, although he is unlikely to feature on Saturday.

Jake Clarke-Salter (leg), Ilias Chair and Karamoko Dembele (both knee) all remain on the treatment table.

Stoke will be without the suspended Wouter Burger for the trip to west London, while Sam Gallagher (hamstring), Bosun Lawal (back), Lynden Gooch (knee) and Ben Pearson (hamstring) all remain sidelined.

Enda Stevens and Ashley Phillips are being assessed after recent knocks and both players could feature at Loftus Road.

The stats

QPR's only league victory of the campaign came at Luton in August and they are the only Championship side yet to register a win on home soil.

Only Swansea (11) have scored fewer Championship goals than the R's total of 12.

Saturday's hosts have claimed just three points from the last 27 available.

After picking up just six points from his first seven league games in charge of Stoke, Pelach has seen his side register two wins and a draw from their last three fixtures.

Stoke have scored just three away goals in the Championship — Plymouth with two are the only side to have registered fewer — but two of those strikes came in their most recent away fixture at Blackburn where they won 2-0.

The Potters have only lost on two of their last eight visits to Loftus Road.

Prediction

There was a feel-good factor surrounding QPR at the end of last season after Cifuentes successfully guided them to Championship survival, but the pressure is now mounting on the Spaniard following their disastrous start to the current campaign.

Home form has been a particular concern for the R's, who have picked up just four points from their eight matches at Loftus Road during 2024-25, and they are unlikely to get any change out of an improving Stoke.

The Potters initially struggled following Pelach's arrival at the club in September, but he now appears to be getting a tune out of his side following recent wins against Derby and Blackburn and a draw with in-form Millwall.

If Stoke can maintain that momentum following the international break then they should prove too strong for QPR, who may be staring down the barrel of a seventh defeat across their last 10 games.

Back Stoke to win at 7/4 with LiveScore Bet

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