Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
Andy Pakes previews this Sunday afternoon clash in the first edition of Game of the Week for 2012
Dave Hughes tells us about his sporting hero, Wes Morgan
Our latest Game of the Week comes from Carrow Road this week with the clash between newly-promoted duo Norwich City and Queens Park Rangers. With both sides exceeding expectations in the league so far, each side will be eager to register a win and push on further up the table.
Form
Norwich City have made a good start to the season, lying in 11th place. The majority of their points have come from home victories against Sunderland and Swansea as well as an excellent away win at the Reebok against Bolton. They will also be relieved to have got some difficult fixtures out of the way so early in the season having played both Chelsea and Manchester United away and taking an unexpected point against Liverpool at Anfield.
QPR’s start has been even better than their opponents, lying two points ahead in 9th place. Despite some heavy defeats, including a 6-0 defeat away to Fulham at the beginning of October, investment from new owner Tony Fernandes has spurred the London side on to an unlikely win over local London rivals Chelsea and a hard-fought win at the Britannia Stadium against Stoke City. With the January transfer window looming, manager Neil Warnock will be hoping for the new owner’s backing to bring some high-profile names to Loftus Road and capitalise on their good early-season form.
Team news
Norwich still have injury problems in defence with Daniel Ayala, Ritchie De Laet and Zak Whitbread all still out. Russell Martin is set to play in defence once again after his three heroic goal-line clearances against Arsenal last weekend
QPR - Captain Joey Barton is suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card last weekend. Defenders Danny Gabbidon and Luke Young re ruled out but Heidar Helguson is expected to be fit.
Player watch
QPR – Heidar Helguson
Despite competition for places up front from new signings Jay Bothroyd and DJ Campbell, Helguson has secured a place in the side and has found himself in excellent attacking form in recent times with five goals in his last five games
Norwich – Anthony Pilkington
A summer signing from League One side Huddersfield Town, Pilkington is playing his first season of Premier League football. With four goals already this season, the winger is proving to be a natural at the highest level.
Key Stats
If Norwich fall to defeat, it will be the first time they have fallen to three straight defeats in the league since the 2008/09 season
Games involving QPR are usually not short of goals. There has been an average of four goals a game for the last five fixtures involving the London side.
Predictions
Yorker editor Aimee Howarth came out on top of last week’s predictions with not only the correct result but also the correct scoreline. James Tompkinson gets an honourable mention for also predicting a Liverpool win.
Aiming to improve on a bad call last week, I think there could be a few goals in the game with two attacking sides eager for points. I think that QPR will miss battling midfielder and captain Joey Barton but I’m going to back them to come out on top in a 3-1 win.
James Tompkinson says… 2-1 QPR
Aimee Howarth says… 1-1
Stephen Puddicombe says… 2-1 QPR
Manraj Bahra says… 2-1 Norwich
Anthony Quinn says… 3-0 Norwich
Daniel Williams says… 2-0 Norwich
Sam Holloway says… 3-3
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