LINEUP, BOOKINGS (0) & SUBSTITUTIONS (0)
Queens Park Rangers
- 01 Green
- 14 Isla
- 15 Onuoha
- 04 Caulker
- 06 Hill
- 07 Phillips
- 08 Barton
- 30 Sandro
- 20 Henry
- 09 Austin
- 25 Zamora
Substitutes
- 12 McCarthy
- 19 Kranjcar
- 22 Dunne
- 23 Hoilett
- 34 Mitchell
- 39 Grego-Cox
- 41 Comley
Chelsea
- 13 Courtois
- 02 Ivanovic
- 24 Cahill
- 26 Terry
- 28 Azpilicueta
- 07 Ramires
- 21 Matic
- 22 Willian
- 04 Fàbregas
- 10 Hazard
- 11 Drogba
Substitutes
- 01 Cech
- 03 Filipe Luis
- 05 Zouma
- 08 Oscar
- 12 Mikel
- 23 Cuadrado
- 37 Brown
Live Text Commentary
3:07
Eden Hazard (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
3:07
Foul by Mauricio Isla (Queens Park Rangers).
1:26
Attempt missed. Bobby Zamora (Queens Park Rangers) left footed shot from long range on the left misses to the right.
0:00
First Half begins.
0:00
Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
TEAM NEWS
QPR defender Richard Dunne is fit after knee surgery but lacks match fitness and is not expected to feature.
Darnell Furlong could return from a calf problem, but Michael Doughty and Rio Ferdinand are both ruled out.
Chelsea striker Diego Costa is out with a hamstring injury, so Loic Remy is set to start against his former club.
Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas would be banned for games versus Manchester United and Arsenal if booked on Sunday but both will start at Loftus Road.
Fabregas will wear a protective mask, having broken his nose against Stoke last weekend.
MATCH PREVIEW
Chris Ramsey might just know how Dr Frankenstein felt - he was left with the job of trying to fire some life back into a corpse of a football team cobbled together from discarded players whose last remnants of usefulness seem to have largely expired some time ago.
It says something about the job Ramsey has done that Rangers could even begin to be disappointed about taking a point from Villa Park on Tuesday - until February a draw away from home looked about as likely as a cash offer for Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adel Taarabt.
Unfortunately for Rangers fans, their home form seems to have shuddered to a halt just as their away results have picked up - it is six consecutive home defeats now, the last four on Ramsey's watch.
For Chelsea, it seems to be a case of when rather than if they seal the title. Having said that, these derbies are often difficult for them, especially so for John Terry.
Lawro's prediction |
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"It has been a good week for QPR and I am sure they will be confident ahead of this one - it is a derby, they are at home and on a tight pitch which is not easy for opposing teams to get used to."
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The Chelsea captain returns to the ground where he was embroiled in allegations of racial abuse following his comments to Anton Ferdinand which eventually cost him the England captaincy.
However ugly that episode was, it is one worth remembering for the lessons it offered to the game and those who play it.
Terry has performed without incident at Loftus Road since then - both times against the now departed Anton Ferdinand - but has only faced Rio Ferdinand once since that autumn of 2011.
Ferdinand senior, you may remember, subsequently described Terry as the "biggest idiot".
Injury has ruled Rio out on Sunday, and I don't suppose that the former England team-mates will be chatting much in the players' lounge after the game.
Chelsea aren't playing particularly well just now and Diego Costa's hamstring injury has come at a bad time so in all probability Loic Remy will lead the line against the club which brought him to England.
The bad news for Rangers is that, after scoring in successive games, it looks as though the Frenchman is hungry for the opportunity.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Chelsea have won just one of their last 13 league games away to QPR (D6, L6).
- The Blues' solitary Premier League victory away to QPR was on 2 January 1996, when Paul Furlong hit a 90th-minute winner.
- The last time Chelsea did the double over QPR in the top flight was in 1968-69.
Queens Park Rangers
- The Hoops are winless in their last 12 Premier League London derbies (D3, L9), with their last victory coming away to Chelsea on 2 January 2013.
- Rangers have lost their last six home games, including five Premier League matches.
- Matt Phillips has registered seven assists in 2015. Lionel Messi is the only player in the top five European leagues with a better record prior to this weekend.
- QPR have conceded the opening goal in 23 of their 32 league matches this season - a league high.
Chelsea
- The Blues have scored first in 24 of their 30 Premier League games this term.
- Their next goal will be their 100th in all competitions this season.
- Chelsea are vying to win three successive top-flight matches for the first time in 2015.
- They have won four consecutive away league games since the 5-3 defeat at Tottenham on New Year's Day.
- Eden Hazard is set to play his 100th Premier League game.
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