There’s a mighty matchup in The Championship on Friday night with Luton v QPR on the telly at 8pm. Our resident EFL tipster, James O’Rourke, has scoured the stats and served up a five-leg Bet Builder.
He’s expecting a feisty encounter with plenty of cards and attacking intent. Let’s get down to it, as we kick off another ace footballing weekend.
Luton v QPR betting tips
Both teams to score
Tahith Chong to score
Zack Nelson to be shown a card
Over 3.5 cards
Over 7.5 corners
- A Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 45/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
WHEN: Friday, August 30 – 8pm
WHERE: Kenilworth Road
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football
Both teams to score
Luton Town have not been reliable in the season’s opening weeks, and the freshly relegated club are still searching for their first win in any competition. However, one area where they can be generally trusted is to find the back of the net in front of their supporters. Since the beginning of 2023, only in four matches have they failed to score in a home match in league or cup.
As for Queens Park Rangers, they, too, have demonstrated an area where punters have some confidence in them. This is a positive and a negative for the team itself because all of their clashes this season, also in all competitions, have featured both teams scoring. Half of the wins they have achieved since manager Martí Cifuentes took charge last October have been to nil, but Luton’s impressive scoring record at home suggests the away side will likely need to score at least twice if a win is to be attained.
Tahith Chong to score
At a glance at the Expected Goals table for the Championship, it may not surprise many to see Luton sitting in second place. Then again, we must remember they’re yet to claim three points in any match so far, whilst The Hatters have also scored just one league goal. This suggests they’ve either been wasteful in front of goal or a little unfortunate.
The man who fired in that solitary goal is Tahith Chong, and there is no reason to suggest why he cannot be another goal threat in Friday’s battle. The former Manchester United youngster has a unique role in the team regarding offering the natural attacking drive from midfield. The 24-year-old is playing just behind strikers Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo, both scoreless this season. Therefore, there is a degree of expectancy from Chong to deliver the goods.
QPR are still trying to settle on a midfield duo in their 4-2-3-1 shape, which means few pairings have really gelled together so far. New signings have come into this part of Cifuentes’ squad, and that could mean Chong potentially exposing this through his well-timed runs and dribbles into the final third.
Zack Nelson to be shown a card
19-year-old Nelson has probably enjoyed more minutes than he would have expected early in this campaign. That may continue, especially with Chiedozie Ogbene transferring to Ipswich and Daiki Hashioka being injured. Plus, he did his chances no harm at all following his long-range screamer against Luton in the cup on Tuesday. Therefore, the right-wing-back spot appears to be his for now.
Whilst it is suitable for him, it isn’t necessarily great news for the team itself, as the reality is that he is only in due to a lack of alternatives. This player is more used to playing as an attacking midfielder. Nelson already has a yellow card to his name this season, and he will again be up against some influential QPR players in this area of the pitch, such as tricky advanced full-back Kenneth Paal.
Naturally, he would improve the longer he plays in this position, and it may be that Rob Edwards looks to mould him away from a central midfielder, where the squad has much more depth than a wing-back. However, he is ultimately learning on the job, and this is his breakthrough season, which is not easy to do at the Championship level.
Over 3.5 cards
Bobby Madley will oversee this clash on Friday night, and there is no doubt he will be aware that they both played one another as recently as Tuesday. There was a little bit of bad blood on the pitch in that encounter. The tie went all the way to penalties, and indeed, Luton will be looking to show a bit of a reaction. This, in turn, could lead to some tasty tackles flying in. QPR will be more than wary of this and must stand up and be counted on themselves.
Madley himself is still settling into the campaign and has taken charge of two Championship matches so far. In his previous one, Derby v Middlesbrough, he dished out four bookings. The Carabao Cup tie from earlier this week also featured five yellow cards on the night.
Also, this is likely to be an incredibly competitive contest, given that Luton and QPR are both seeking their first league win of the season. There will be some frustration with that fact, and with this already expected to be a little spicy, it would be a big shock if Madley kept his cards in his pocket.
Over 7.5 corners
After three rounds of fixtures in the Championship this season, perhaps surprisingly to some, Queens Park Rangers sit top of the average corners-earned tally in the league. The Loftus Road club are averaging 10.67 corners, and if they maintain this figure or something close to it on Friday, then they alone will surpass this selection and then some.
Luton are not far behind in this particular statistic either, with an average of 7.33, ranked fourth out of all teams at this level. Given that they are playing under the lights at Kenilworth Road, play a wing-back system, and are not far off desperate to get a first win of the season, there is every reason to suspect they contribute on the corner count plentifully.
This clash also has the makings of being entirely open and end-to-end. The Hatters will, of course, push for victory at home, further fuelled by additional motivation after being knocked out of the cup by the opposition. Rangers have an attack-minded coach at the helm, and he won’t be setting them up purely to sit behind the ball. Even if Cifuentes did this, it would increase the likelihood of Luton earning plenty of corners.
Luton v QPR Bet Builder
Both teams to score
Tahith Chong to score
Zack Nelson to be shown a card
Over 3.5 cards
Over 7.5 corners
- A Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 45/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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