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Follow us on Twitter @claretandview // Words by Harry Trend (@HazaTrand)
Villa travel to Loftus Road this as the Championship gets back up and running. To get the insight on QPR, I’ve requested the help of R’s fan Sam Prior (@samprior1882).
Sam works in London as an account manager, but more importantly he’s season ticket holder at Loftus Road who travels to most away games too. Sam lists Alan McDonald, Clint Hill, Les Ferdinand and Charlie Austin as his favourite QPR players of all time.
What were your expectations for QPR going into the season?
Going into the season as like most QPR fans I just wanted to survive relegation. With little budget and the club in transition, expectations were low. The hope was that we would have a team to build on in future seasons.
How would you rate your season so far out of 10 and why?
7.5. So far the season has turned out a lot better than I expected. We seem to have a team who give everything each game and have proved that at home we can beat anyone, making Loftus Road into a very hard place to go for any away team. Our away form, like in recent seasons, has been poor. However, bar Forest we have competed and could’ve taken more points with a bit more luck in front of goal.
Which QPR players should Villa be wary of?
Luke Freeman, he is my stand out player this year he always has a trick up his sleeve and passes players at ease. Our midfield three of Luongo, Scowen and Freeman work so well together and give the opposition no time on the ball, they seem to click when playing together. Matt Smith, although not starting many games this year, has been brilliant in front of goal and always causes problems with his height.
If you were Ian Holloway and had to sign one Aston Villa player for the R’s, who would it be?
James Chester, QPR are crying out for top quality centre-back and Chester would ease our defensive worries.
Where do you see Villa finishing this season and why?
Villa seem to be picking up a lot of momentum and I can’t see them not finishing in the top six. Although I can’t see them finishing in the top two, I expect them to go close to promotion in the play-offs.
Score prediction for Saturday?
It’ll be a very close game, but we’ve been brilliant at home so I’m going with a 2-1 win for QPR.
