Wigan Athletic and Queens Park Rangers face off in the Championship for the third time this season, with both sides looking to reach the Sky Bet Championship play-off final at Wembley. A Wigan win over the two legs would hand the Latics their third Wembley trip of the season, having suffered defeats against Manchester United and Arsenal respectively. For QPR, it is a chance to make their first appearance at 'the New Wembley', and their first final of any kind since the 1982 FA Cup final, when they narrowly lost out to Tottenham Hotspur.

Wigan have done a good job in reaching the play-offs after a slow start to the season, sat in 13th place in early December, whilst trying to juggle the ruthlessness of the Championship schedule with the excessive travel and Thursday games in the Europa League, which they had qualified for through winning the FA Cup last season. Owen Coyle left, and in came Brentford manager Uwe Rösler, who began an unthinkable crawl towards the top end of the league. 

Queens Park Rangers have been battling it out with the early promotion chasers Burnley and Leicester since the season's start, before a serious dip in form from Harry Redknapp's men saw the chance of automatic promotion slip further and further away. QPR finished a disappointing 22 points behind eventual champions Leicester City, and 13 away from the final automatic promotion spot. The scintillating change in form at Derby County under Steve McClaren saw the Rams finish above the R's, and secure their play-off against Brighton.

The winner of the tie over the two legs wins a trip to Wembley and a play-off final against either Derby County or Brighton and Hove Albion, the latter of which will be looking to play in the Premier League for the first time in their club's history. A £90m prize fund for the overall winner is also surely a motivator to progress to the final, with QPR recently recording losses of over £65m.

Recent Form

Wigan form (Last six games): LWLLWL (6 points from possible 18)

QPR form (Last six games): LWLWDW (10 points from a possible 18)

Wigan's recent form has been nothing short of erratic, a run of poor home performances resulted in Wigan's slip on what appeared to be a firm grip on their play-off position. Home defeats against Millwall and Blackpool were pivotal to a disappointing end of season run-in. 

QPR, on the other hand, have managed to pick up points in four of their final six games, the highlight of which was a convincing 5-2 win against Nottingham Forest, who had been competing for an automatic promotion spot earlier in the season, before falling to several defeats, a run which saw them eventually finish in 12th place. 

In the two meetings between the sides in the league this season, only one goal was scored. A Yossi Benayoun header was enough to seal the three points for Redknapp and his side at Loftus Road in March, the reverse fixture playing out a 0-0 draw in late November.

There are no short-term injury concerns for either side, with Ben Watson, Jermaine Jenas, Matt Phillips and Alejandro Faurlin all remaining on the sidelines for their respective clubs for the foreseeable future.

Either side will be eager to make a return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, having both suffered relegation from the top tier last season. But which side will take advantage into the second leg on Monday, May 12th?

Prediction: Wigan 2-1 QPR

VAVEL Logo
About the author