QPR start life back in the Championship after relegation from the Premier League with a trip to Charlton Athletic. Much of the squad from last season has left with notable players such Joey Barton, Richard Dunne, Rio Ferdinand and Bobby Zamora all gone from Loftus Road.
The club have replaced them by bringing in Swindon midfielders Ben Gladwin and Massimo Luongo, Groningen midfielder Tjaronn Chery, defenders James Perch and Paul Konchesky, and strikers Jamie Mackie, Jay-Emmanuel Thomas and Oscar Gobern.
Charlton Athletic start their first full season under Israeli Guy Luzon. The Addicks have made some useful additions with midfielders El-Hadji Ba and Ahmed Kashi arriving from Sunderland and Metz along with defenders Naby Sarr from Sporting CP, Patrick Bauer from Maritimo and Zakara Bergdich from Real Valladolid. They have also brough in Danish international Simon Makienok on a season-long loan from Palermo.
Team news
Makienok is expected to make his debut for Charlton alongside former Celtic striker Tony Watt. Bauer is also expected to make his debut where he will likely be partnered by Alou Diarra.
Charlton will be without goalkeeper Stephen Henderson, who is out for the first month of the season with a shoulder injury. Replacing him will be youngster Nick Pope, who has enjoyed loan spells at York City and Bury in recent seasons.
Despite the constant rumours, striker Charlie Austin remains at QPR and he is expected to start at The Valley tomorrow. He could be joined by Jay-Emmanuel Thomas, who will be lining up to make his R's debut.
Head-to-head record
QPR narrowly have the better of Charlton with 23 wins to 22. Last time the two sides met, Charlton captain Johnnie Jackson scored in the 90th minute for a 1-0 Charlton win.
Before that meeting, QPR had won four of the five previous meetings between the two clubs.
The managers
QPR may have a superior squad to Charlton with Austin still among their ranks, but Luzon is not fazed by this.
Speaking ahead of the game, he said: “I only expect things from my team, but they are a good team with a lot of quality and players who played in the Premier League last season.
“However, we need to focus on our quality and our system."
QPR manager Chris Ramsey has admitted his side need to improve defensively.
He said: "One of the things I felt last season was that, as much as we played well and created chances in certain games, we were very soft towards the end of matches from 80 minutes onwards, we lost or drew matches that we should have won."
