Queens Park Rangers are locked in a tense battle for survival in the Championship and have a great chance of staying in the division, according to Opta’s latest projections.
The London outfit seemed doomed for the third tier when Gareth Ainsworth’s side were defeated 2-1 at home to Leicester City back in October. However, Marti Cifuentes managed to steer the ship outside the drop zone following a victory away at the King Power Stadium earlier this month.
Since taking charge at Loftus Road, the Spaniard boasts a points-per-game ratio of 1.33. With eight games remaining of the 2023/24 campaign, this current rate predicts that QPR will finish on either 50 or 51 points which could secure safety in the Championship.
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After a vital weekend of action at both ends of the table, we give an update on the Opta supercomputerβs Championship predictions for automatic promotion and relegation.
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) March 19, 2024
Next week, Queens Park Rangers take on Birmingham City in what is arguably the club’s biggest game to date. The West Midlands side are one point below Cifuentes’ men and are just outside the bottom three on goal difference. However, the Blues may be boosted by the arrival of former manager Gary Rowett who is set to take over on an interim basis.
As things stand, QPR have a higher possibility of staving off relegation to League One than both Birmingham and Huddersfield Town below them. As per Opta’s latest forecast, the Londoners have a 26.3% chance of being condemned to the division below, while the Blues and the Terriers have a 40.5% and 32.8% chance of relegation.
Interestingly, Opta have also stated that Rangers had the toughest run-in from any team in the bottom five prior to last weekend’s fixtures. A goalless draw away at Sunderland may have changed these figures slightly.
Writer’s View
These numbers can often be accurate but also fail to take into account external factors which may boost a team’s chances of picking up results, such as a ‘new-manager bounce’. These outside influences made a huge difference and Millwall are a primary example of this.
Queens Park Rangers have some tough games coming up but a lot of their survival hopes hedge on the game at home to Birmingham on Easter weekend. Without trying to sound cliche, this is a real six-pointer and could make or break the club’s season.
Deputy Head of Writing
