Little to choose between PL promotion outsiders
Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers meet on Wednesday night at the Riverside Stadium in the EFL Championship, with both sides locked on four points (one win and one draw) after their respective opening two matches in the nascent second tier campaign. The visitors have a slight advantage in terms of a superior goal difference, and though neither are favourites for promotion to the Premier League, the opposing dugouts and squads are full of experience and quality with which to carve out a possible path to the promised land. Read our preview here:
The Crooks of it
Despite a bevy of shots in their clashes with Fulham (1-1) and Bristol City (2-1), Boro have only three goals to show for their efforts in front of goal. Central to most of their approach play and chance creation has been Matt Crooks in the left half-spaces of the midfield trio. Veteran manager Neil Warnock likes to keep a fairly conservative unit between the defence and the attack to allow the latter greater individual and collective freedom, but the former Rotherham United pivot has been instrumental in a positive start for the Teesside outfit in 2021/2022, bagging the crucial second on Saturday after great work from impressive frontman Uche Ikpeazu. Just as in their opener with the Cottagers, the hosts can expect a serious battle of attrition in the middle third of the pitch, and they are well equipped with the blend of personnel to hold firm in that department at the very least.
Wijs guys
Progressively minded head coach Mark Warbuton's Hoops have escaped tricky ties with Millwall and Hull City with four strikes and a clean sheet, and Middlesbrough represent a step up in difficulty from of their divisional rivals faced to date. The verve and ingenuity of Ilias Chair in behind the two cente forwards could be drowned out by a dogged midfield in red under the floodlights on Wednesday, so inspiration might need to be sought elsewhere for them to head back to London with another point on the board. The aforementioned Ikpeazu has been accommodated all too readily by defences thus far, but in the form of Dutch stopper Jordy de Wijs (who was on loan at Loftus Road from the Tigers in 2020/2021), he'll be much more closely monitored. Equally as impressive is his ability to come forward with the ball at his feet into the next phase, breaking the press - this was most ably demonstrated with his superb equaliser from range in the derby with the Lions a fortnight ago, and the propensity of Wednesday's opponents to sit deep could inadvertently invite further forays forward.
Warnock deadlocked
Naturally, at this point in Warnock's managerial career, there are few sides in the upper echelons of the EFL he hasn't been in charge of at one juncture or another. While his three years at the helm in White City might seem like eons ago, and QPR have changed a lot both on and off the pitch in the intervening years, they will still be as hard to beat as they were under his watchful gaze (losing only 25 of his total 88 competitive games in charge, mostly between 2010 and 2012). betway have odds of 3.30 for a draw that will keep both clubs unbeaten and ticking over just nicely heading into the weekend's fixtures.
