Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s EFL Cup clash between Queens Park Rangers and Luton Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
A place in the EFL Cup third round will be at stake when Queens Park Rangers play host to Luton Town on Tuesday.
QPR beat Cambridge United in the first round of the EFL Cup, while the Hatters are entering the competition in the second-round stage.
Match preview
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QPR have experienced an underwhelming start to the Championship season, having taken two points from their opening three league games.
They began the campaign with a 3-1 defeat against Cambridge United, before playing out consecutive draws with Sheffield United and Plymouth Argyle.
The R’s would have been particularly disappointed with Saturday’s result against the Pilgrims, who were reduced to 10 men in the 29th minute and then to nine men in the 91st minute.
However, QPR can at least take some comfort from the fact they are unbeaten in their last three competitive matches – a run which began with a 2-1 away win over Cambridge in the first round of the EFL Cup.
After avoiding a third consecutive first-round exit, QPR will now be looking to seal their place in the next round by clinching their first home win of the season.
Recently relegated Luton have made a poor start to their Championship campaign, having seen their first three matches produce one win and two defeats.
The Hatters began the season with a disappointing 4-1 defeat to Burnley on the opening day of the season, before they showed great character to hold Portsmouth to a goalless draw after playing an hour with 10 men.
However, they were unable to build upon that dogged performance as they fell to a narrow 1-0 loss in Saturday’s away clash with Preston North End, leaving them in 23rd place in the Championship table.
Having failed to win their last nine competitive matches, the Hatters will travel to Loftus Road with aspirations of claiming their first win since beating Bournemouth 2-1 on April 6.
The Hatters are hoping to reach the third round of the EFL Cup for the second season in a row after beating Gillingham at this stage of the competition last term.
Queens Park Rangers EFL Cup form:
Queens Park Rangers form (all competitions):
Luton Town EFL Cup form:
Luton Town form (all competitions):
Team News
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QPR attacker Ilias Chair is sidelined with a back injury, while the hosts are also expected to be without the services of Morgan Fox and Lucas Andersen.
Midfielder Jack Colback will serve the second game of a two-match suspension after being sent off in the recent league draw with Sheffield United.
Cifuentes is likely to rotate his squad for the second-round tie, with Joe Walsh, Liam Morrison, Elijah Dixon-Bonner, Jonathan Varane and Zan Celar all in contention to start against Luton.
As for the Hatters, they are unable to call upon Daiki Hashioka, Jacob Brown, Tom Lockyer and Tom Krauss, while it remains to be seen whether Marvelous Nakamba will prove his fitness in time for Tuesday’s clash.
Goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski is available after serving a one-match ban for his red card in the goalless draw against Portsmouth.
Former Swansea City midfielder Liam Walsh came off the bench to make his debut on Saturday, and he could now be presented with the chance to make his first Luton start, with Rob Edwards likely to make a number of changes for the second-round clash.
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Walsh; Dunne, Morrison, Clarke-Salter, Paal; Varane, Dixon-Bonner; Smyth, Dembele, Saito; Frey
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Bell, Burke, McGuinness; Walters, Walsh, Clark, Doughty; Nelson, Morris; Woodrow
We say: Queens Park Rangers 2-2 Luton Town
QPR have seen their last two matches end all square, and we think they could play out another draw in Tuesday’s EFL Cup clash, sending the tie to a penalty shootout, and we believe the hosts will hold their nerve to advance to the next round.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.