Swansea vs. QPR Preview

Two of last season’s promoted sides square off at the Liberty Stadium on December 27 as Brendan Rogers’s Swansea City take on Neil Warnock’s QPR.

Only two points separate both clubs heading into the busy festive period but it is Swansea who have by far made the more pleasing start to life in England’s top flight considering the lack of financial power available to the impressive Rogers who has set his stall out well against a number of higher calibre teams.

The Welsh outfit are not always pleasing on the eye and are far from being an accomplished attacking force having netted only sixteen times so far in as many games this season.

Nevertheless is seems as if Rogers has really got his priorities right by instilling a stern, tough dressing room with a tremendous work ethic which makes the Swans incredibly hard to break down and beat.

Their recent away 0-0 result at Newcastle United demonstrated Swansea’s effectiveness to work hard and compete physically in order to grind out results and this will be a crucial factor towards the club potentially avoiding relegation back to the Championship in 2012.

Swansea’s home form is also excellent and having lost only once in eight games at the Liberty Stadium, Warnock’s QPR face a stiff task if they are to walk away with at least a share of the points.

Although Rangers have managed three wins so far on the road to give them a fair nine point haul from eight away games, they have still shipped goals at a rate of two per game and this factor alone may be enough to allow Rogers’s men the chance to gain some real attacking impetus in front of their home supporters.

If Swansea can step up their creative levels then QPR could well be there for the taking and any such scenario would leave Rangers dangerously hovering above the bottom three.

Form from when both teams were in the Championship could have a major say however considering the fact that many players from last year’s squads have remained a prominent fixture after stepping up to the Premier League. Warnock is terrific at mind games as well as galvanising his team and QPR may still be buoyed by their devastating 4-0 success over Swansea last season in the second tier.

Swansea are marginally odds against at around 11/10 for this match and although they seem more likely to take all three points than the away side, a draw probably looks the best bet at around 12/5.

Brendan Rogers will surely be confident of preserving his side’s Premier League status if they can inch three points in this affair and it will also leave them in good stead for when Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham come to town in the New Year.

But Warnock’s tenacity is not to be underestimated and he works extremely well under pressure meaning that any potential win for the home side will have to come the hard way.

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21/12/2011     © Frixo 2024