Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has predicted that Aston Villa will lose 2-1 against QPR at Loftus Road on Friday night.
Dean Smith lost his first game in charge of the Villains on Tuesday away at Norwich, and Prutton believes that the West Midlands club will suffer defeat for a second time on the bounce.
“QPR have quietly hit a bit of form and are starting to look up rather than down under Steve McClaren. Tomer Hemed and Nahki Wells both scored in midweek and they are starting to have a really big impact at Loftus Road,” he said on the Sky Sports website.
“Dean Smith will want to bounce back as quickly as possible following that defeat at Norwich as they are slipping further away from the top six with every bad result. I just think QPR have got their tails up and they will edge this one.”
Aston Villa are currently 16th in the Championship table, two points behind QPR, who are 13th.
OPINION
Steve McClaren’s side are in very good form after their shockingly bad start to the season so Villa are going to have to do well to get a result in West London on Friday night. It does not help that the Villains lost at Norwich despite being a goal ahead, but the fact that games come quick and fast in the Championship may be a good time as it doesn’t give the players enough chance to dwell on that poor result. QPR are definitely a team that Villa can win against and with John McGinn and Birkir Bjarnason back in the side, Smith should have enough quality to get a result. Prutton’s prediction appears to be more down to QPR’s current form rather than anything about Villa other than Tuesday night, but he fails to mention that key players could return for the Villains. And that is why we are going to back Smith’s side to pick up all three points at Loftus Road.