Profiling The Foxes’ Latest Pre-Season Opponents

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Profiling The Foxes’ Latest Pre-Season Opponents - QPR

Leicester City are set to take on Queens Park Rangers in their third pre-season friendly at Kiyan Prince Stadium on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off).

2021-07-30T13:18:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

30 Jul, 2021

Profiling The Foxes’ Latest Pre-Season Opponents - QPR

Leicester City are set to take on Queens Park Rangers in their third pre-season friendly at Kiyan Prince Stadium on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off).

Sam Jones

2021-07-30T13:18:00.000Z

Profiling The Foxes’ Latest Pre-Season Opponents - QPR

Leicester City are set to take on Queens Park Rangers in their third pre-season friendly at Kiyan Prince Stadium on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off).

Sam Jones

2021-07-30T13:18:00.000Z

Profiling The Foxes’ Latest Pre-Season Opponents - QPR

Leicester City are set to take on Queens Park Rangers in their third pre-season friendly at Kiyan Prince Stadium on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off).

Sam Jones

2021-07-30T13:18:00.000Z

Profiling The Foxes’ Latest Pre-Season Opponents - QPR

Leicester City are set to take on Queens Park Rangers in their third pre-season friendly at Kiyan Prince Stadium on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off).

Sam Jones

2021-07-30T13:18:00.000Z

With pre-season now in full swing, Brendan Rodgers’ side continue preparations for the 2021/22 campaign this weekend by facing the Sky Bet Championship side, after meeting Burton Albion and Wycombe Wanderers.

Here’s the lowdown on the west London outfit, who enjoyed a top-10 finish in the second tier last season…

The story of 2020/21

After relegation from the Premier League in 2015, Queens Park Rangers experienced five mid-table seasons in the Championship, finishing no higher than 12th, and as low as 19th in 2018/19.

And it was once again a frustrating start in 2020/21, although form picked up dramatically from the New Year onwards. February was particularly fruitful, involving four wins on the bounce, two of those coming against soon-to-be promoted sides in Watford and London rivals Brentford.

Winning six of their final nine matches, QPR finished ninth in the Championship standings – their highest placing since returning to the second tier.

A total of 68 points was nine short of what was required for a top six spot, but there will be plenty of encouragement among the supporters of where this team could go next season.

The manager

About to enter his third season as QPR manager, Mark Warburton arrived at Loftus Road in May 2019 following spells at Brentford, Rangers and Nottingham Forest.

He took Brentford to the Championship during his time with the Bees, earning automatic promotion from League 1 in 2013/14 and then reaching the Championship play-offs the following year.

A league-cup double during his time at Rangers in Scotland secured promotion back to the SPFL, while he currently possesses a win percentage of 36.73 per cent at QPR, having triumphed in 36 of his 98 games in charge since taking over from Steve McClaren.

The stats

The west London club’s biggest win of the 2020/21 campaign arrived in April, beating Sheffield Wednesday 4-1 at home courtesy of a brace from Scotland international forward Lyndon Dykes, with midfielders Chris Willock and Stefan Johansen also on the scoresheet.

Dykes was top goalscorer with 12 league strikes, backed up by a midfield goal contribution from Ilias Chair, who ended the campaign having played in all but one of Rangers’ Championship fixtures, finding the net eight times.

Assists also came from similar positions, with Dykes setting up five goals for his team-mates, as did Albert Adomah and Willock, while Chair created four goals. In defence, 27-year-old French centre-half Yoann Barbet was a rock at the back, featuring in every league game.

The signings

Warburton has started to bring together a mixture of experience and youth within Queens Park Rangers’ ranks and will be hoping to build on the momentum from their late season form.

QPR have made several moves in the transfer market, with young midfielders Andre Dozzell and Sam Field arriving from Ipswich Town and West Bromwich Albion respectively.

Jordy de Wijs, on loan from promoted Hull City since January, and Stefan Johansen, who spent the second half of last season on loan from Fulham, both now join permanently.

Another man making his temporary deal permanent is Charlie Austin, a firm fans' favourite at Loftus Road, resuming his second spell with the club after netting seven times while on loan from West Bromwich Albion during 2020/21.

Goalkeeper Jordan Archer joins on a free transfer after leaving Middlesbrough, while defender Jimmy Dunne has been recruited from Burnley and young full-back Sam McCallum signs on loan from Norwich City.

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