13th April, 2012
Super Eagles defender, Taye Taiwo, and his Queen Park Rangers teammates will be flying high as they tackle his compatriot’s Osaze Odemwingie’sWest Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns tomorrow.
A 3-0 triumph to the Londoners over Swansea in a midweek tie catapulted Mark Hughes’ men two points clear of the drop zone, while WBA lost their third in four matches when they slumped to a 4-0 loss to Manchester City.
While Odemwingie’s team are well and truly safe from relegation, the manager was less than impressed with their efforts at Eastlands, and will want to make a statement against last season’s Championship winners.
QPR, though, have more to play for than pride, as they continue their battle to stay alive in the cut-throat Premier League, with three wins in their past five elevating them to a position to battle for their top-flight status.
WBA seemed to have slumped back into their old habits in recent times, shipping plenty of goals.
Last season, Albion leaked the second-most goals in the league but managed to survive the cut, and in their past six they have kept just one clean sheet – and not co-incidentally, that came in their only win that run.
Outside of that streak, 12 goals in the other five games in that run is a worrying sign for Hodgson, after they had promisingly allowed just one goal in 270 minutes preceding the run.
QPR’s defensive record this season fares significantly worse, as their shutout of Swansea marked their first clean sheet against Premier League opposition since they kept out nine-man Chelsea in October.
Those statistics suggest there will be plenty of goals in the fixture, and both will be desperate to post points -WBA for honour and QPR out of desperation.