PREVIEW | QPR vs Cardiff City - team news, lineups, predictions

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·3 April 2025

PREVIEW | QPR vs Cardiff City - team news, lineups, predictions

QPR and Cardiff City clash this Saturday at Loftus Road in Matchday 40 of the EFL Championship.

Martí Cifuentes' Hoops are currently 15th in the table on 45 points, the Londoners beaten 3-1 by Stoke City in their last second tier outing.

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Cardiff City, meanwhile, have slipped into the relegation zone, and currently languish in 22nd. In their last game, Omer Riza's Bluebirds drew 1-1 with Sheffield Wednesday.

The last meeting between the two teams saw QPR run out 2-0 winners.

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Ben Platt (W12 Podcast): QPR head into this weekend's game against Cardiff in a precarious position. What once seemed like a dull mid-table finish with playoff hopes dashed has now turned into a crucial match to avoid being dragged into another relegation battle. After a dismal run of just one win in eight games and six consecutive away defeats, the gap has shrunk to just five points from Cardiff, who are in the relegation zone, down from 15 points in late February. As you can imagine, this weekend's game has become vital for both clubs.

QPR look likely be without any fit strikers, as was the case last weekend, and will also miss their two most creative players, Ilias Chair and Koki Saito, along with their best central midfielder, Sam Field. There are also question marks over Steve Cook and others. Marti Cifuentes must find a way to make do with the available players, or QPR will face a tough final six games of the season. He can take some comfort in the fact that it's a home match, and form has been better at Loftus Road of late.

Prediction: 0-1

Tom Taylor (Sport Addict Corner): The Sheffield Wednesday game summed up what this season has been like as a Cardiff City fan. Most of the time where we take the lead we just don't look comfortable and can’t hold on. Once again, our inability to put chances away cost us dearly. We’ve dropped 22 points from winning positions this season and have lost or drawn nearly 60% of the games where we’ve gone ahead. If we end up getting relegated, which is worryingly looking more and more probable each week, then our inability to see out results will be a key reason for why.

On paper, four points from two games against two mid-table sides with an international break in the middle shouldn’t be the end of the world, but given how tight it is in the fight for survival we needed to hold out for the win against Wednesday. Getting Ollie Tanner back from injury is a big boost, as he’s been one of our best attackers at times this year. I’m hoping he’ll make another appearance from the bench on the weekend, as the worst-case scenario would be rushing him in and him getting hurt again at a time we need as many of our first team players as possible.

I’m not filled with confidence ahead of this weekend and can see it again being a difficult afternoon. I don’t think QPR are a particularly great team, but they’re better than Cardiff. With that being said, I’m not sure they have enough to get the three points. We’ve done okay at Loftus Road in the past, and Isaak Davies has found himself in some decent goalscoring form since his return from injury. Once again, I think we’ll take the lead but slip up and drop points from a winning position.