Our Focus turns to the small matter of the West London Derby this Friday evening. For the first time in decades, both clubs are in a position to challenge for a common interest, that interest is promotion making this derby more intense, with more at stake and more equal than what a lot of our younger fans will ever have known.
Warburton’s men come to the Cottage off the back of a winless run of 4 matches. Meanwhile, Parker’s start to the season took another twist last time out, this one in the right direction at St Andrew’s. A massive, massive night under the lights at the Cottage. Let’s have Warburton and his muppets on toast with some caviar!
Head To Head
- Fulham Wins 16 | Draws 7 | QPR Wins 14
- We have lost as many of the home fixtures as we have away. 7 at the Cottage & 7 at Loftus Road.
- Fulham have scored in 15 of the last 16 encounters, dating back to 1982.
- Both teams have scored in 7 of the last 8 games.
- Fulham have won 9 of the last 14 meetings, losing just twice.
- All League meetings Post Second World War have been in the top two divisions.
- Excluding AFC Wimbledon, QPR is the London derby that Fulham have faced the least out of the London clubs currently in the top 4 divisions.
QPR in 2019/20
- League Position: 10th.
- League Form: DLLDW.
- Average Possession: 53.8%.
- Top Scorers: Nahki Wells (9), Jordan Hugill (7).
- Form Table (last 6 matches):13th.
- Clean sheets: 0.
- Discipline: 36 Yellows | 1 Red.
- Both teams have scored in 12 of their 16 matches so far.
- They’ve won more games on the road this year with 3 home victories and 4 away wins.
- Only Barnsley have conceded more goals than Rangers this season.
Players in Common
Bobby Zamora
Fulham – 135 appearances, 37 goals (2008-2012).
QPR – 92 appearances, 14 goals (2012-2015).
John Beck, Roy Bentley, Rufus Brevett, Dean Coney, Lee Cook, Luke Cornwall, Danny Cullip, Heidar Helguson, Robbie Herrera, Ernie Howe, Aaron Hughes, Andy Johnson, Paul Konchesky, Jim Langley, Frank Large, Rodney Marsh, Paul Parker, Tony Parks, Paul Peschisolido, Zesh Rehman, Leroy Rosenior, Wayne Routledge, Tony Sealy, Callum Willock & Bobby Zamora.
Score Prediction Panel
Gordon Davies (1978-1984 & 1986-1991)
Fulham 3-1 QPR
Rodney Marsh (1962-1966 & 1976/77)
Fulham 2-1 QPR
Paul Peschisolido (1997-2001)
Fulham 1-1 QPR
Will’s View (@TrustyFulhamFan)
Fulham are back at home, after securing 3 big points at St Andrew’s. QPR travel 2 miles from Loftus Road to the Cottage, hopefully, to experience upset. Fulham are most likely without Full backs Joe Bryan and Maxime Le Marchand, which should leave the defence quite self-explanatory with the way we ended the Birmingham game. With Mitrovic suspended, Parker will need to change the team around with a new striker. Cairney is expected to be back in the side after missing last game through illness, which leaves Fulham with a bit of a team shuffle.
QPR are winless in their last four matches, giving the whites a big advantage going into Friday’s game. Mark Warburton and Scott Parker go head to head in one of Fulham’s and Rangers’ biggest rivalries. However, the rivalry extends out of the games. One of the big reasons this has always been such a big rivalry is because of the 1987 proposal of Fulham becoming ‘Fulham Park Rangers’ as I’m sure most Fulham fans know. As well as a time that most would like to forget, playing for two years at Loftus Road, (which we luckily managed to escape). QPR sit comfortably in 10th, exactly where they were at this point last year, and are only 2 points behind us, meaning they will be looking very fondly for 3 points.
Fulham lost their last home game, a surprising 3-0 loss to Hull, and are looking to get back to winning ways. Fulham are going to have to push hard, considering we have a hard run of games coming up we need to get 3 points to give us a big motivational push for the points needed to get into the playoff spots. QPR have recently obtained around 50% possession in their last few matches but Fulham should provide yet again another one-sided possession stat with, of course, minimal shots. The Mitrovic suspension could be a big loss, however, it will be interesting to most likely see Bobby Decordova Reid up top. We are all hoping to see him open his goal-scoring account for Fulham, and give him a boost of confidence for games to come. With Cairney probably back for this game, hopefully, he expresses his attacking and passionate side for the club to create as many chances as we can, which needs to be more than in recent games. Hopefully, it’s an action-filled derby, with the whites taking the 3 points at the end of it and TC showing why he should captain this side. I’m going for a 3-1 win on a chilly Friday night at the Cottage.
