Premier League Preview 2012/13: Q.P.R. (H)

Premier League Preview 2012/13: Q.P.R. (H)
May 17, 2013 Gary Fulcher

By Gary Fulcher, Daniel Rhodes and Mihail Vladimirov.

Liverpool bring the 2012/13 campaign to an end with a visit to Anfield of relegated Queens Park Rangers on Sunday, 3pm kick off UK time.

The Reds secured a comfortable 3-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in December, thanks to a brace from Luis Suarez and a Daniel Agger header. The corresponding fixture last season ended with a 1-0 victory for Liverpool courtesy of a Luis Suarez strike. A victory for Brendan Rodgers’ side will see us reach 61 points, our highest total since the 2009/10 where we ended the campaign with 63 points and a 7th place finish that will be repeated this time out.

Premier League record since the two clubs met back in December:

  • Liverpool – P: 17 W: 8 D: 6 L: 3 F: 39 A: 17 GD: +22 Pts: 30
  • Q.P.R. – P: 17 W: 3 D: 6 L: 8 F: 14 A: 23 GD: -9 Pts: 15

Q.P.R. have failed to win any of their last eight Premier League matches – six defeats, two draws – and have won just four league games all season. They’ve scored the fewest goals (30), picked up the fewest points (25) and have the worst goal difference (-29) in the division and have failed to scored in 15 matches; the joint highest in the division shared with Stoke City and Swansea City.

Liverpool have scored 70 league goals this season, our highest tally since we scored 77 in 2008/09. The only other occasions where we’ve scored 70 league goals or more in a Premier League season was in 1995/96 (70) and 2000/01 (71). We are unbeaten in seven league games (four draws, three wins) and if we avoid defeat against the Hoops, we will equal our longest unbeaten run of the season (eight: five draws, three wins), which began at the end of September and ended late November.

The match-day officials for this fixture are:

Referee: M Atkinson Assistants: P Kirkup, S Burt; Fourth official: R Madley

TEAM NEWS

Steven Gerrard (shoulder), Daniel Agger (back), Joe Allen (shoulder), Raheem Sterling (thigh) and Martin Kelly (knee) are all ruled out through injury for Liverpool, while Luis Suarez is suspended and Martin Skrtel (illness) is doubtful.

Q.P.R. are missing Shaun Wright-Phillips (foot) and DJ Campbell (fractured foot), while there are doubts over Julio Cesar (back) and Christopher Samba (hamstring).

Liverpool:

Goalkeepers: Reina, Jones, Gulacsi
Defenders: Johnson, Wisdom, Flanagan, Skrtel, Coates, Carragher (c), Enrique
Midfielders: Lucas, Coutinho, Henderson, Downing, Sterling, Assaidi, Shelvey, Suso
Strikers: Sturridge, Borini

Q.P.R.:

Goalkeepers: Green, Cerny, Murphy, Julio Cesar
Defenders: Traore, Samba, Hill (c), Yun Suk-Young, Onuoha, Bosingwa, Fabio, Harriman, Ehmer, Mbia, Young
Midfielders: Diakite, Derry, Park Ji-Sung, Taarabt, Granero, Jenas, Hoilett, Townsend, Andrade
Strikers: Johnson, Mackie, Remy, Zamora, Hulse, Bothroyd, Balanta, Hitchcok, Hewitt

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