The Sky Bet Championship weekend concludes with the Monday Night Football this week where the focus will be on the bid to avoid the drop by Derby County. They welcome a club who know all about financial issues themselves in QPR.
Derby need to basically play promotion football from here on in to avoid the drop whereas QPR are looking to leave the division in the opposite direction so there is no shortage of motivation for either side in this one.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels. The build-up begins at 7.30pm and kick off at Pride Park is at 7.45pm.
Derby County
This was never going to be an easy season for Derby County after they went into administration earlier in the campaign and suffered the point deduction that came with it. The last thing they needed was another deduction on top of that for financial irregularities meaning that with a 21 point deduction they will need somewhere around 73 points in total just to stay up this term. That is playoff form for a whole season which highlights the size of the task they face.
To be fair to the Rams, only the top three have lost fewer matches than them this season but their 10 draws is of no use to them whatsoever. They need to take more risks and risk losing to find the wins they need. Even had they won five and lost five of those games they would be five points better off. Given that they need wins you would imagine at some point Wayne Rooney will have to adopt an attacking approach regardless of the consequences.
QPR
The Londoners have no such problems to worry about. If they win this match they will end the weekend in third place in the table and while they would be a mile behind the top two, it is a sign of how well they have started the season. QPR go into this match unbeaten in five matches but they probably won’t need me to tell them that they have only won one of their last seven on the road. That record will need a huge improvement if Rangers are going to last the pace at the top end of the table.
The one thing QPR do have at their disposal is options, particularly in the attacking areas and that is always key. They are the fourth highest scorers in the league but have conceded 24 goals in their 19 matches so that is another area where they could do with tightening up in order to achieve their aims this season. You would imagine if they have a good December then Mark Warburton will be given a few quid to spend to attempt to get the Hoops back into the Premier League.
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Team News
Lee Buchanan went off injured in the televised win over Bournemouth last weekend and he is going to miss out here. Craig Forsyth is expected to deputise for him. Sam Baldock also picked up an injury in that game and he is going to miss out too.
QPR will be without full-back Sam McCallum but they should be boosted by the return of Moses Odubajo, Lyndon Dykes and Andre Gray for this fixture. The latter two will offer Mark Warburton many more attacking options.
Betting
I don’t think it is possible to bet on the outcome of Derby County matches this season. I say that because their need is different to that of everyone else and I know from when my own team were in this situation in our -30 season that you just can’t play normal football. You have to push the boat out and take risks because even draws are poor results. They’ll win some and lose some but logic doesn’t apply to Rams matches this term.
That need to push things does open up another bet though and that comes in the form of both teams to score. That might not seem like the right play when you consider QPR arrive in the midlands having kept three clean sheets in their last four matches but I’m still trying to work out how Luton didn’t score against them. Derby carry a goal threat as they showed Bournemouth last weekend but there can be a vulnerability to them as well as they go searching for wins. I like both teams to score here.
Tips
Back Both teams to score for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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