Queens Park Rangers play host to Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday evening with the opportunity to move into the top half of the Championship standings.
Wycombe travel to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on the back of three successive defeats, form which has left the Chairboys 12 points adrift of safety.
Match preview
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Defeats to Birmingham City and Barnsley effectively ended any realistic ambitions that QPR had to gatecrash the playoff race during the closing weeks of the season.
Nevertheless, their 2-0 win at Bristol City on Saturday afternoon was a necessary response to keep well ahead of what could become a congested battle to avoid relegation.
Mark Warburton's team still possess a game in hand on their rivals, creating a situation where they could find themselves as high as 12th position come the full-time whistle on Tuesday night.
Their home form has not necessarily been a strong point this season with just 22 points being earned from 16 fixtures at their London ground.
However, half of their six victories have come since the start of February, suggesting that the Hoops have turned a corner at an important stage of the campaign.
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Gareth Ainsworth would have felt similar when Wycombe picked up seven points over a four-match period last month, increasing their chances of avoiding a return to League One.
Three defeats later, all without troubling the scoresheet, and the division minnows have been left 12 points off the pace and with rivals Rotherham United still having two games in hand.
Ainsworth will be realistic about pulling off one of English football's greatest escape acts, but it will not stop him demanding the maximum from his squad.
Although they netted three times during their comeback win over Huddersfield Town on February 13, Wycombe have failed to score in four of their last five away matches.
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Team News
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Warburton must decide whether Jordy De Wijs is fit enough to play his second game in quick succession after making his QPR debut at Ashton Gate.
Having missed the game at the weekend due to a knock, Geoff Cameron could deputise for the Dutchman in the middle of defence.
Barring any further issues, Warburton may stick with the remainder of the team which performed so impressively against the Robins.
Ainsworth will almost certainly freshen up his Wycombe XI with Nnamdi Ofoborh, Fred Onyedinma and Daryl Horgan all in contention for recalls.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Dickie, De Wijs, Barbet; Kane, Johansen, Field, Wallace; Willock, Chair; Austin
Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Stockdale; McCarthy, Stewart, Tafazolli, Jacobson; Wheeler, Ofoborh, Mehmeti; Onyedinma, Ikpeazu, Horgan
We say: Queens Park Rangers 2-0 Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe have reached a point where they must place a strong emphasis on their attacking play, something which has not been their strong point this season. However, we feel that QPR are well equipped to stay in control of this contest, potentially easing to victory with a goal in each half.
Top tip
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 50.51%. A draw had a probability of 25.4% and a win for Wycombe Wanderers had a probability of 24.05%.
The most likely scoreline for a Queens Park Rangers win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.21%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.5%) and 2-1 (9.4%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.07%), while for a Wycombe Wanderers win it was 0-1 (7.76%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Queens Park Rangers in this match.
