CHAMPIONSHIP specialist James O'Rourke (@JamesOR1) shares his thoughts on Friday night's West London derby match-up between Fulham and QPR.
Fulham v QPR | Friday 22nd November 2019, 19:45 | Sky Sports
We have a West London derby for our Friday night televised viewing in the Championship as Fulham entertain QPR at Craven Cottage. The international break probably came at a bad time for Fulham in the sense that they won at Birmingham, whilst QPR may have been glad for the break on a count of going winless in four.
Fulham was the tip of many prior to a ball being kicked this season for the Championship title outright. Going into this weekend, they find themselves seven points behind league leaders West Brom and just outside the play-off positions. They’ve perhaps not been as consistent as they’d have wanted by only winning back-to-back games on three occasions.
QPR started the campaign like a house on fire and Mark Warburton’s side were playing a very refreshing brand of football, and they were being rewarded. Those rewards have certainly dried up in more recent times but they remain more than capable on their day. For all that they’ve lost two of their last three away, they’ve still earned notable scalps at Stoke, Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall and Hull.
Straight off the bat, this is a game which does instantly smell of goals given the attacking intent on how, and how Scott Parker and Warburton will set up their respective teams. This games pits together two of the top-five in the Championship in relation to goals scored. Fulham have however conceded at least twice in their last three at home and the same can be said of QPR away.
One league table QPR sit at the top of is the average amount of goals in their league games. No other side in the Championship has seen more goals than their average of 3.50. Fulham’s is lower at 2.56, but five of their eight at home, including the last three, has included Over 2.5 Goals. Only four of QPR’s 16 league encounters has failed to involve a minimum of three goals.
QPR are also top of the Both Teams To Score tally in the division, with 12/16 managing to do so. They remain without a clean sheet and are the only Championship side that can say that. Again, the numbers for Fulham cannot manage those levels, but when QPR are involved these things just happen, so we have to angle towards the side of goals, even if this is a derby and they can sometimes level themselves out.
Our first play is Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 Goals at 10/11 (Bet365) for the reasons mentioned above.
Our second and final play is again on a similar line, but specifically we’re looking for Both Teams To Score in the Second Half, which is a handy 2/1 (William Hill) selection.
This is as only top of the table West Brom has scored more second-half goals in the league than QPR’s 17, whilst Fulham are only just behind on 15. Both teams are in the 60s in terms of percentage for how many of their goals are second after half-time, so this tentative punt looks worthwhile based on those numbers.
Best Bets
Fulham v QPR – Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 Goals (10/11 Bet365)
Fulham v QPR – Both Teams To Score in the Second Half (2/1 William Hill)
