Chelsea stretched its unbeaten run in the league to nine matches with a narrow win over Stoke on Saturday. They will look to continue their sizzling form this coming Sunday when they travel to Loftus Road to face the resurgent Queens Park Rangers who are fresh off a morale-boosting three-goal victory over West Bromwich Albion.
Read on below for a complete preview of this Premier League clash and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Blackburn here.
A victory by QPR on Sunday can see them move out of the bottom three by virtue of its stronger goal difference. Chelsea, on the other hand, regardless of the result will remain in first place in the Premier League standings.
Betting on Chelsea
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Chelsea opened a seven-point gap at the top of the league table with a nervy 2-1 win over Stoke on Saturday. Loic Remy was the hero for the Blues as he pounced on an error by keeper Asmar Begovic in the 62nd minute to grab the game-winner and helped preserve Chelsea’s unbeaten home record in the league this season.
The Blues are the only side in English soccer’s top four divisions to have that incredible distinction and that will serve them in good stead heading into their final eight league games. For them to grab their fifth league title, though, they will need to take it one game at a time and that starts with their away game against relegation-threatened QPR this coming Sunday.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will fancy his chances of getting the all-important win because of the outstanding form of Remy. Remy has now scored five goals in 17 league appearances for the Blues –a decent return given his limited action on the pitch.
He is expected to be handed the start in this QPR game, though, with star striker Diego Costa suffering a hamstring injury in the game against Stoke. Costa has been a vital cog to Chelsea’s success this season, scoring a team-high 20 goals this campaign.
With Costa out, the onus is on Eden Hazard to be more involved on the offensive end for Chelsea. He’s the second-leading scorer for Chelsea this season, grabbing 17 goals this campaign. He scored the opener against Stoke on Saturday, lashing a penalty in the 39th minute.
Interestingly, he also scored a penalty in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over QPR on November 1. Hazard has now scored nine out of nine Premier League penalties – the joint most of any player with a 100% record (alongside Dimitar Berbatov).
Look out! There’s still some fight left with these Queen Park Rangers.
QPR recorded a crucial 4-1 win against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday to keep alive its hopes of avoiding relegation. It was just the second away win this season for QPR who moved to within three points of Aston Villa for 17th place in the league table with 25 points to their name.
It was a brilliant result for QPR who lost 17 of their previous 19 away league matches. Chris Ramsey’s men, however, picked the perfect time to deliver their best performance of the season against West Brom, scoring three goals before halftime. That is the first time they have done so in the top-flight since February 1995 at Newcastle.
Eduardo Vargas, Charlie Austin, Bobby Zamora and Joey Barton scored the goals for QPR who improved their goal difference this season to -20. With the jockeying for position at the bottom of the standings more intense than ever, having that edge in the goal differential department will be crucial in their fight for survival.
They will face a stern test, though, this coming weekend when they face league-leaders Chelsea at Loftus Road. Chelsea has the best away record in the league this season, scoring 31 points in their 15 road games this season. The Blues have also scored the most away goals this season, netting 33 goals in their travels thus far.
With that being said, QPR will still feel bullish about its chances against Chelsea. They have a good record against Chelsea recently, grabbing a win and a draw in their last three Premier League meetings with the Stamford Bridge outfit.
