Blackburn Rovers and Queens Park Rangers will kick off their Championship campaign on Saturday afternoon with a match at Ewood Park with kickoff at 5 pm.
Blackburn began their 2018-19 Championship campaign without manager Tony Mowbray, who decided to end his stint at Rovers in the summer. However, despite a new era beginning at Ewood Park under Tomasson, the Dane has not made sweeping changes to his first-team squad.
The only significant addition is Callum Brittain, who has joined Barnsley. The Blackburn supporters will feel underwhelmed given the number of new senior players who have already departed for pastures.
Nevertheless, Blackburn still possesses enough quality players to put out a strong starting lineup on Saturday, giving Tomasson extra time to add strength-in-depth to his senior crop. A pre-season that saw three wins and two draws come from six matches concluded with a narrow 1-0 win away at Lincoln City last weekend.
When former Rangers manager Mark Warburton was replaced by Sean Beale in 2021, it allowed the former Aston Villa assistant to make changes. The 2021-22 campaign ended disappointingly for QPR as they dropped down to 11th position, but it gave Beale the freedom to stamp his authority on the squad.
Blackburn vs. QPR Head to Head
Both sides have 18 games against each other, with hosts taking ten wins while visitors with three wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Lincoln City 0-1 Blackburn
- Hartlepool 0-1 Blackburn
- Celtic 2-2 Blackburn
- Dundee FC 1-1 Blackburn
Away
- QPR 0-3 Crystal Palace
- Wealdstone 2-8 QPR
- Hallescher 1-1 QPR
- FSV Zwickau 0-4 QPR
Blackburn Team News
Tomasson could hand a debut to Brittain, the defender having played the second half against Lincoln. Gallagher should be available despite missing that fixture and would potentially take one of the forward positions in place of either Tyrhys Dolan or Ryan Hedges.
QPR Team News
Beale will likely name the same QPR lineup from last weekend’s loss to Palace. However, Chris Willock, Luke Amos, Roberts, and Taylor Richards may all be on the bench.
Prediction and Odds
Both managers want to make a good start with their new teams, but they may be wary of losing their first games. In this context, the game is likely to be a low-scoring draw.
- Draw
- Double Chance
- Goals Over 1.5
