Nottingham Forest will be looking to make a winning start to their 2020-21 Championship campaign when they head to Queens Park Rangers on the opening weekend of the season.
The Reds incredibly missed out on a playoff spot on the final day of the 2019-20 campaign, eventually finishing in seventh, while QPR ended the season in 13th position in the table.
Match preview
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QPR will have to do without the services of Eberechi Eze in the coming season as the 22-year-old, who scored 14 times in the Championship last season, has left to join Premier League side Crystal Palace.
The R's have not been overly busy in terms of incomings this summer, although Lyndon Dykes has arrived from Livingston, while George Thomas and Luke Amos have also move the move to Loftus Road.
Mark Warburton's side finished 13th in the Championship last season, 12 points outside of the playoffs, and it is going to be difficult for the team to push for the top six positions in 2020-21.
The home side will also enter this game off the back of a disappointing result, having suffered a 3-2 defeat away to Plymouth Argyle in the first round of the EFL Cup last weekend.
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Forest, meanwhile, also exited the EFL Cup in the first round last Saturday, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Barnsley, but there is no question that their main focus will again be on the Championship this season.
The Reds needed a draw on the final weekend of the 2019-20 campaign against Stoke City to make sure of a spot in the playoffs, but a 4-1 loss saw Swansea City move into sixth position on goal difference.
Forest actually failed to win any of their final six league matches of the season as they incredibly missed out on the opportunity to play for a spot in the Premier League.
Sabri Lamouchi's side cannot afford to dwell on the disappointment, though, and they will be determined to start their campaign with a positive result on Saturday afternoon.
There are likely to be some new faces on display for the visitors, but a key player has been lost this summer, with right-back Matty Cash joining Premier League side Aston Villa.
Queens Park Rangers pre-season form: WL
Queens Park Rangers form (all competitions 2020-21): L
Nottingham Forest form (all competitions 2020-21): L
Team News
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QPR are expected to have Yoann Barbet, Geoff Cameron and Thomas available this weekend following recent knocks, while Tom Carroll could again feature in the middle of the park.
Bright Osayi-Samuel's future remains the subject of much speculation, and there is a chance that the 22-year-old will be left out of the squad as he is yet to commit his future to the club.
Dykes should make his Championship debut for the club, though, with the forward expected to shake off the knock that he suffered while representing Scotland in the UEFA Nations League.
As for Forest, Fouad Bachirou is expected to make his Championship debut in the middle of the park, but Taylor could start on the bench with Lewis Grabban likely to lead the line.
Sammy Ameobi should continue in an attacking position, while Jack Colback is likely to feature in the middle of the park, having joined the club on a permanent deal this summer.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Lumley; Kakay, Dickie, Barbet, Manning; Ball, Carroll; Thomas, Amos, Chair; Dykes
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Smith; Gabriel, Figueiredo, Worrall, Ribeiro; Ameobi, Carvalho, Bachriou, Colback, Da Costa; Grabban
We say: Queens Park Rangers 0-2 Nottingham Forest
Forest will be determined to put three points on the board as they bid to move on from last season, and we fancy the visitors to have too much for QPR on Saturday, backing a 2-0 success for the Reds.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Queens Park Rangers win with a probability of 48.61%. A win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 27.73% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Queens Park Rangers win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.5%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.8%) and 2-0 (7.6%). The likeliest Nottingham Forest win was 1-2 (6.87%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Queens Park Rangers would win this match.
