Queens Park Rangers vs Millwall

Queens Park Rangers and Millwall will face-off against each other at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium in their opening 2021/22 Championship encounter.

Queens Park Rangers secured a ninth-place finish last season, their best rank since suffering relegation from the Premier League in 2015. Worryingly, though, the ‘Rs’ have never claimed back-to-back top-half finishes in the Championship during the EFL era. However, the hosts are bracing themselves for a strong start here, encouraged by a run of eight unbeaten second-tier H2Hs on home turf (W4, D4). If that’s not enough to comfort the home side, a return of four wins from their last five Championship curtain-raisers might serve well. What’s more, Mark Warburton’s side ensured back-to-back wins after breaking the deadlock within 20 minutes to round off the 2020/21 Championship campaign. Curiously, none of QPR’s 12 home league games this calendar year have ended as a draw (W8, L4).

Meanwhile, Millwall managed just a single win in their final six Championship fixtures last season (D1, L4) to finish 11th in the standings. It’s safe to say that the curtain fall came to Millwall’s rescue as their abysmal form in the run-in culminated with an embarrassing 6-1 away defeat to Coventry, their heaviest league loss since December 2014. Although they’ve been offered a clean slate, the ‘Lions’ look unlikely to grab it, having failed to win any of their last three season openers on the road (D2, L1). Adding to a long list of worries, the South Londoners have failed to win at QPR in each of their previous nine away league H2Hs (D5, L4).