Norwich v QPR: Canaries can take step closer to promotion

Norwich v QPR
Saturday April 6, 12:30
Live on Sky Sports

Norwich make it seven straight wins

Daniel Farke urged his Norwich side to stay focused after their "massive win" at Middlesbrough helped to strengthen the Canaries' position at the top of the Championship. Onel Hernandez's brilliant second-half strike earned City maximum points at the Riverside, giving Saturday afternoon's hosts a five point advantage over the chasing pack.

Boro had the better of the general play before the break and headed against the post, but the Canaries' class told as the game wore on with Teemu Pukki wasting three opportunities. Victory was the seventh successive win for Norwich and, with seven matches remaining, the Norfolk club are in pole position to secure promotion back to the Premier League.

Farke fielded the same starting XI for the seventh consecutive match last weekend and appears unlikely to make any amends ahead of Saturday's showdown. Midfielders Moritz Leitner and Mario Vrancic remain on the bench. Meanwhile, Louis Thompson and Carlton Morris continue their rehabilitation and remain unavailable.

QPR sack Steve McClaren

QPR sacked manager Steve McClaren on Monday following a run of one win in 15 Championship outings. The former England boss was dismissed with Rangers eight points above the relegation zone and despite guiding the capital cub to just two points shy of the play-off places on Boxing Day and a first FA Cup 5th Round appearance in 22 years.

However, performances have dipped in 2019 and the R's suffered a seven-game losing streak in January and February to slide down the standings. And feeble recent efforts at Loftus Road against Stoke (0-0), Rotherham (1-2) and Bolton (1-2) appear to have sealed McClaren's fate with the board placing assistant manager John Eustace in interim charge.

Nakhi Wells could be recalled to the starting XI after notching his ninth goal of the season last weekend against Bolton, along with club captain Toni Leistner and talented playmaker Eberechi Eze. Angel Rangel made his return from injury in that Bolton encounter, but Geoff Cameron missed out through illness and remains doubtful for Saturday's contest.

Canaries to take step closer to promotion

This is a fixture that Norwich have enjoyed the upper hand in at Carrow Road over the past 20 years. The Canaries have claimed W11-D3-L1 against QPR in Norfolk going back to the duos Premier League days in 1994 with the hosts' only reverse arriving in their relegation campaign from the second-tier in 2008/09.

Since the September international break, Norwich 1.45 have W23-D7-L3 in the Championship, averaging 2.30 points per-game average. Exclude the top four teams in the league and the Canaries have registered the same W23-D7-L3 return whilst pocketing W13-D1-L2 as hosts at Carrow Road and scoring at least three times in nine of those 16 games.

QPR 7.20 have W1-D4-L10 since Boxing Day - shipping two goals or more in 11 of those 15 outings, and collecting two points from a possible 21 on their travels in that time (W0-D2-L5). Rangers have W2-D4-L10 on the road to clubs outside of the bottom-three in the Championship, leaking at least twice in 11 of their 19 games as guests in 2018/19.

The most straightforward approach to Saturday's clash is therefore to support a Norwich win with the Canaries scoring Over 1.5 Goals in the process at 7/10 with Betfair Sportsbook's Same Game Multi market.

Goals to flow at Carrow Road

The two teams have shown a penchant for high-scoring matches in 2018/19 with Norwich surpassing the Over 2.5 Goals line in 13/19 (68%) of their Carrow Road encounters, with QPR following suit in 11/19 (58%) away days. A repeat can be backed at 1.64 this weekend.

However, the odds are a touch skinny and punters looking to support a goal-heavy game should consider alternative markets with the hosts beating the Over 3.5 Goals line in 10/19 (53%) of home ties and both sides scoring on 11/19 (58%) occasions.

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Mark O’Haire says: back Norwich to win and Norwich to score Over 1.5 Goals @ 7/10 in Norwich v QPR