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Stoke City to ease past poor QPR

Stoke City to ease past poor QPR
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Three points separated Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers in the final EFL Championship standings last term.

The two rivals will open the 2019-20 EFL Championship season against one another and the result should be quite tellingly of just how the term will unfold for both teams.

Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers both go into the new term with relatively new managers. Stoke City appointed Nathan Jones in January and he oversaw an upturn in form.

Jones has now had his first offseason with the Potters and it should do wonders for their play in the new season. The manager shed several players who had worn out their welcomes at the Bet365 Stadium.

Geoff Cameron, Charlie Adam, and Darren Fletcher were all released at the end of 2018-19. The moves should give Stoke City a breath of fresh air and chance to overcome the issues that plagued them previously.

Queens Park Rangers appointed Mark Warburton as manager this summer. Warburton must guide a team with little in the way of transfer funds back up the table and towards the promotion playoffs.

Fourteen players have arrived at Loftus Road with the club paying transfer fees for just two of them. One player that has joined is former Stoke City player Cameron, who is capable of playing in both defence and midfield.

Long-serving Bournemouth winger Marc Pugh arrived at Queens Park Rangers this summer as well. He should provide veteran leadership and goals for the club.

Stoke City and Queens Park Rangers met last season for the first time since both played in the Premier League in 2015. Both fixtures ended in draws.

Their first match saw both sides score in an exciting 2-2 match. However, the follow up fixture was a nil-nil draw played at Loftus Road.

Stoke City will be without veteran defender Ryan Shawcross. The defender broke his leg in preseason and is recovering from surgery. According to Jones, Shawcross’s injury isn’t as bad as first believed, which is good news for the club.

Unfortunately, new defensive signing Liam Lindsay is suspended for the weekend. The club will have their other new defensive signings Stephen Ward and Tommy Smith available.

Queens Park Rangers will be without midfielder Massimo Luongo due to time off for personal reasons.

Warburton has a lack of firepower at Queens Park Rangers. The club’s lack of quality strikers will doom them to a poor weekend at Stoke City.

The home side will pick up a valuable opening day win and should be able to shut out Queens Park Rangers on the day. Expect over 1.5 goals in Stoke City’s win.

Home team
Away team
Probability %
1X2
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
CH
413227
1
2 - 0
2.32
20°-22°
1.77
1.77 3.49 5.10 1 -1 1
FT
1 - 2(0 - 1)
-
- - -
Championship Regular Season
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Ipswich Town 89 43 26 11 6 32
2
Leicester City 88 42 28 4 10 41
3
Leeds United 87 43 26 9 8 42
4
Southampton 84 42 25 9 8 30
5
West Bromwich 72 43 20 12 11 24
6
Norwich City 71 43 21 8 14 16
7
Hull City 65 42 18 11 13 8
8
Coventry City 63 42 17 12 13 14
9
Middlesbrough 63 43 18 9 16 5
10
Preston North End 63 43 18 9 16 -4
11
Cardiff City 59 43 18 5 20 -12
12
Bristol City 58 43 16 10 17 4
13
Sunderland 56 43 16 8 19 2
14
Swansea City 53 43 14 11 18 -9
15
Watford 52 43 12 16 15 1
16
Millwall 50 43 13 11 19 -13
17
Blackburn Rovers 49 43 13 10 20 -14
18
Plymouth Argyle 48 43 12 12 19 -8
19
QPR 47 43 12 11 20 -17
20
Stoke City 47 43 12 11 20 -19
21
Birmingham City 45 43 12 9 22 -16
22
Huddersfield 44 43 9 17 17 -23
23
Sheffield Wednesday 44 43 12 8 23 -31
24
Rotherham 23 43 4 11 28 -53

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