Preview: Queens Park Rangers vs. Bristol City - prediction, team news, lineups

At a time when the Hoops sit six points adrift of safety, Bristol City are in 11th position in the Championship standings.

Match preview

While QPR sacking Gareth Ainsworth came as a surprise to no-one, supporters would have been left taken aback by the appointment of Martí Cifuentes.

The arrival of the 41-year-old, who was previously with Swedish side Hammarby IF, will have divided opinion, yet he has immediately ended a six-game losing streak.

Last weekend, QPR were able to record a 1-1 draw at relegation rivals Rotherham United, initially taking a second-half lead before having to settle for a share of the spoils.

All in all, it was a decent point that keeps the West Londoners within six points of safety at a time when they have played three more away games than they have at Loftus Road.

Nevertheless, you have to go back to March 11 for QPR's last success on home territory, and changing their fortunes there will be the priority of their new head coach.

Bristol City also have a new man in charge with Liam Manning being announced as the replacement for Nigel Pearson earlier this week.

Manning had been impressing in League One with Oxford United, but the decision has been made to try to launch a playoff push with the Robins in the league above.

Although Bristol City have lost five of their last eight games, they still have nine points from their most recent six outings, with interim boss Curtis Fleming able to deliver a 1-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday last weekend.

That has kept Bristol City within four points of the top six, but they head into this fixture having scored just seven goals from as many games on their travels in this season's Championship.

Queens Park Rangers Championship form:

L

L

L

L

L

D

Bristol City Championship form:

W

L

W

L

L

W

Advert - content below:

Team News

With a point being earned at Rotherham in his first game, Cifuentes will not overly tinker with his QPR starting lineup.

However, Jack Colback and Andre Dozzell are each available again after suspensions and are options in central midfield.

Paul Smyth may move to the flank to replace Ilias Chair, who will serve a ban of his own courtesy of five yellow cards.

The Bristol City XI is somewhat of an unknown due to Manning taking over this week, yet he may not want to change a winning side.

Sam Bell is most likely to be recalled in the final third, but Manning could keep Andreas Weimann wide on the left.

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:

Begovic; Cannon, Cook, Dunne, Paal; Colback, Dixon-Bonner, Field; Smyth, Dykes, Willock

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

O'Leary; Tanner, Vyner, Dickie, Pring; James, Gardner-Hickman; Sykes, Knight, Weimann; Conway

We say: Queens Park Rangers 1-2 Bristol City

With two new head coaches at the helm, everyone will be looking to impress at Loftus Road. We expect a different-looking QPR outfit to the one under Ainsworth, but Bristol City have been in solid form before the arrival of Manning, leading us to predict a narrow victory for the visitors.

Previews by email