JUST IN ; Sunderland can now break 12-year curse against QPR this weekend if they do one thing
Sunderland can now break 12-year curse against QPR this weekend if they do one thing
Sunderland host QPR in the Championship on Saturday.
Sunderland return to the Stadium of Light this weekend, where they welcome relegation-threatened QPR.
The R’s currently sit in 20th place of the Championship table with just a point separating them from the drop zone.
Marti Cifuentes has overseen a dramatic turnaround in West London, with his QPR side having lost just one of their last five in the league, winning three including a win at Leicester City.
The same can’t be said of Mike Dodds at Sunderland though; his side have lost their last six now, and a win for QPR on Saturday could really pull Sunderland into the relegation picture.
Sunderland looking to break rotten record vs QPR on Saturday
Sunderland don’t have a positive recent record against QPR.
Although the Black Cats have won their last two against the R’s, the last being a 3-1 win at Loftus Road back in September, Sunderland haven’t beaten QPR at the Stadium of Light in 12 years.
The Wearsiders’ last home win vs QPR came back in 2012; a 3-1 win in the Premier League with Nicklas Bendtner, James McClean, and Stephane Sessegnon all on the scoresheet that day.
In fact, Sunderland have only beaten QPR at home twice since the turn of the Century.
As things stand, Sunderland sit eight points ahead of QPR, so a win for the away side this weekend would close the gap to five points.
History doesn’t bode well for Sunderland this weekend
There’s still 27 points for each team to play for in the Championship.
Sunderland currently have a nine-point buffer to the drop zone, which given how well teams near the bottom are doing right now, may not be enough to prevent Sunderland from getting in a real tangle near the bottom three.
Having lost their last six now, confidence seems to be really low, and Mike Dodds keeps chopping and changing his XI to no effect which will also drain confidence from the players.
Coming up against a strong and dangerous QPR side then, and having not beaten them at the Stadium of Light in 12 years, certainly makes for an intriguing clash on Saturday.
Another defeat could really land the Black Cats in trouble, especially if other teams below them pick up wins, and then alarm bells would really start to ring.
But on the flip side, a win would alleviate a lot of nerves about the final run-in, whilst also handing the players and indeed Dodds some much-needed belief.
Kick off is at pm on Saturday.
