On Tuesday Crystal Palace will face Queens Park Rangers in a London derby in the EFL Cup. The Eagles are looking to progress to the fourth round of this competition for the first time since the 2018/19 season where they lost to Middlesbrough.
The match marks the return for Eberechi Eze to West London to face his former club. Eze made 112 appearances for the R’s before switching West London for South in a deal worth £19.5 million.
QPR beat Luton on penalties by four goals to one after a 1-1 draw in the second round of the EFL Cup. Hevertton Santos netted in the 90 minutes, and all four players who took penalties converted as Luton were missed two of their spot kicks. QPR had previously defeated Cambridge United in the first round of the EFL Cup, winning 2-1 away from home.
In the Championship the R’s sit in 12th place having won once, lost once and drawn three of their games.
Crystal Palace defeated Championship opposition in the form of Norwich 4-0 in their second round tie, with goals from Daichi Kamada, Eze and a brace from Jean-Philippe Mateta securing victory.
The Eagles fortunes in the Premier League have not been quite as successful, with Oliver Glasner’s side still awaiting their first win.
Palace lost both of their first two games against Brentford and West Ham however, their form is slowly starting to pick up, with Palace drawing their last two league games with Chelsea and Leicester, and Glasner will hope to continue his sides three match unbeaten run.
The last time these two sides faced was on the 23rd July 2022 in a pre-season friendly as the Eagles won 3-0, whilst the last competitive outing was saw Palace triumph 3-1 way back in March 2015.
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Team News
Queens Park Rangers
Moroccan international Ilias Chair is set to miss out on Tuesday’s cup tie as he is out with a back injury.
Former West Brom midfielder Sam Field is also questionable ahead of the game after being forced off at half time during the weekend tie versus Sheffield Wednesday.
The rest of the R’s squad is expected to be available.
Crystal Palace
Brazilian attacker Matheus Franca is still side-lined with his fractured rib but has made a return to individual training.
New signing Chadi Riad picked up an MCL injury in the second round against Norwich, and is expected to be out for a period of up to 8-12 weeks.
Trevoh Chalobah is also expected to be absent for this game and is questionable for this weekends Premier League clash with Man United after suffering an abdominal muscle injury during his first training session.
Cheick Doucoure is also a doubt after he was withdrawn at half time against Leicester on the weekend with an ankle injury.
Rob Holding is currently training separately from the first team and is unlikely to feature.
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Likely Line-ups
Queens Park Rangers
Walsh; Dunne, Cook, Morrison, Paal; Colback, Varane; Santos, Dixon-Bonner, Saito; Frey
Crystal Palace
Turner; Richards, Guehi, Lacroix; Munoz, Lerma, Hughes, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Nketiah
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Key Players
Queens Park Rangers - Michael Frey
The Swiss forward has a wide array of experience so far, featuring in Switzerland, France, Turkey, Belgium and Germany during his career so far.
With the loss of Scotland striker Lyndon Dykes this summer to League One Birmingham City, Frey has been entrusted as the talisman for the team and responsible for scoring the goals. He has scored two and assisted one of Rangers’ seven Championship goals in the first five games.
When the R’s drew with Plymouth they registered 30 shots, showcasing their attacking intent, meaning that there will be plenty of opportunities presenting themselves for Frey to get on the scoresheet.
Crystal Palace – Eberechi Eze
The former R’s man has started the season picking off from where he left off. He netted once against Norwich in the second round and once against Chelsea in the Premier League.
The England international has also been a little unlucky as his terrific free-kick was wrongly ruled out on the opening day. He also had two goals chalked off in the second round for offside but still managed to find his way on to the score sheet.
Eze’s play style heavily involves his dribbling abilities. This is essential in the Eagles’ ability to start an attack, with Eze using his dribbling to glide past opposition players and create space.
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Match Details
Where is the game being played?
The match will be played at QPR’s Loftus Road in West London.
What time is kick-off?
Kick off is at 19.45 BST on Tuesday 17th September 2024.
How can I watch?
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports+. Highlights of the match will also be available to watch on YouTube.
