Top-of-the-table QPR offer real value in Championship market
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It’s been a refreshingly quiet summer over at Loftus Road, with QPR manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink spending roughly £5m on five new players as he looks to better last season’s 12th-placed finish.
But things couldn’t have gone better for the Championship side so far this year as they’ve picked up maximum points from their first two games, scoring five goals without conceding in the process.
In fact, yesterday’s 2-0 victory away at Cardiff City saw goalkeeper Alex Smithies faced with his first shot of the campaign, much to the credit of QPR’s defensive unit – who breezed past Leeds United in their first fixture without Garry Monk’s men having a single shot on target.
So why are the Championship leaders still 7/1 to win promotion back to their Premier League?
Yes, it’s still early days – but we’ve seen early signs that this team is capable of maintaining a high position in the league, and they’re already six points ahead of the favourites for the title, Newcastle United.
A safe pair of hands in Alex Smithies sits behind arguably one of the strongest defences in the league, boasting the likes of ex-Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha, former Liverpool loanee Steven Caulker, Grant Hall and newboy Jake Bidwell.
And going forward the Hoops aren’t too shabby, either.
Last season’s top-scorer for QPR, Tjaronn Chery, has already grabbed two goals in two games this campaign, while new signing Yeni N’Gbakoto got his name on the scoresheet alongside Conor Washington in the week against Swindon Town.
QPR lost just three of their last 11 fixtures last campaign. However, they finished the season with a staggering 18 draws from 46 games – a figure which no other team in the top four tiers of English football could beat.
Early signs are that Hasselbaink’s men are eager to turn those draws of yesteryear into wins this time around.
And if their current form can be maintained throughout the course of the season, you can be sure the 7/1 on QPR to win promotion won’t be available for long – it’s already come in from 9s since the start of the campaign.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
