West Ham vs QPR - Team News, Match Preview & Likely Line-Ups

by Joseph Dempsey

Venue: Upton Park Date: Saturday, 19th January K/o: 15:00

Team News

West Ham could welcome back Joey O'Brien, and James Collins will have his hamstring assessed ahead of kick off. Striker Andy Carroll and defender George McCartney (both knee) are still out as they fight their way back to match fitness, but Midfielder Mark Noble has shrugged off a calf problem. QPR could hand a debut to new striker and record signing Loic Remy, who joined the R's this week for £8 million. Samba Diakite is at the Africa Cup of Nations and Esteban Granero is an injury concern, meaning Shaun Derry and Stephane M'Bia may continue in midfield.

Match Preview

QPR might be rock bottom of the Premier League but things are really starting to look up for the basement side. They are unbeaten all month, and have followed up a remarkable 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with a string of battling draws against the likes of West Brom and Tottenham. Harry Redknapp€™s men are proving to be a difficult team to break down these days and don€™t look the same side who shipped three goals against Liverpool back in December. They have only conceded one goal all month and it is shrewd defending like that which will help a side avoid the dreaded drop. Their hosts, West Ham, haven€™t enjoyed quite as good of a month. In spite of coming within minutes of knocking Manchester United out of the FA Cup, they were eliminated in the replay and manager Sam Allardyce was subsequently charged with misconduct over comments about referee bias. His side have only picked up one win this month €“ against Norwich at the start of the month, but followed that up with a 3-0 defeat to Sunderland in between the two Man Utd games. But West Ham have a good record against the visitors here. QPR€™s last victory at Upton Park was a 4-0 win in August 1993, the first month of the inaugural Premier League season.

Likely Line-Ups

West Ham Jaaskelainen, O'Brien, Reid, Demel, Tomkins, Nolan, Noble, Jarvis, Diame, Cole, Vaz Te QPR Cesar, Nelsen, Traore, Hill, Mbia, Taarabt, Wright-Phillips, Derry, Faurlin, Cisse, Mackie Source: BBC

Contributor
Contributor

Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.