Why this game matters
Six games into the season, the Championship table reads West Brom second, QPR fourth — and on Saturday the two meet at The Hawthorns (12:30 BST) with West Brom just a point off top spot after West Ham's win moved them above the Baggies on Friday night. West Brom have won back-to-back games 1-0, while QPR have lost just once in six despite carrying a raft of injuries into the campaign — built on a defence that's conceded just four goals, the joint-fewest in the division alongside Swansea City.
Two different routes to the touchline
West Brom's head coach James Morrison made 341 appearances across two spells as a West Brom midfielder, won the club's Player of the Year award in 2014/15, and helped keep them in the Premier League for the best part of a decade. When he retired in 2019, he didn't leave — he moved straight into the academy as a coach, worked his way up through the first-team staff under three different managers, and was finally appointed permanently in charge this year. Across the touchline, QPR's Julien Stéphan represents the opposite kind of appointment: an external hire from French football, in the job since June 2025, building something new rather than continuing something familiar.
Recent history
This fixture has a clear favourite on paper: West Brom have won 18 of the last 34 meetings between the two sides, with QPR winning 5 and 11 drawn. Narrow it down to matches at The Hawthorns specifically, and it gets more lopsided still — West Brom are unbeaten in their last 7 home games against QPR, winning 5 of them and scoring 18 goals in the process. Both of the two most recent meetings have gone West Brom's way too — a 3-1 win away at QPR in August 2024, then a 1-0 win at home in March 2025 that extended that unbeaten home run.
Players to watch
Jimmy-Jay Morgan — West Brom's top scorer so far this season, and heading into matchday seven no player in the Championship has more goal contributions than the 20-year-old: three goals and three assists in his first six league games. The most direct route to breaking down a QPR side that's already showing defensive cracks after back-to-back league games without a win.
The numbers
| Stat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current positions | West Brom 2nd (13pts) – QPR 4th (11pts) |
| West Brom's home run vs QPR | 7 games unbeaten (5 wins), 18 goals scored |
| All-time head-to-head (last 34 meetings) | West Brom 18 – QPR 5 (11 draws) |
● Stats correct at time of publication.
The big question
QPR have lost just one of their opening six league games this season, even through a run of injuries — but they're winless in their last two, and history at The Hawthorns specifically is heavily against them. Can QPR's underlying form hold up against a genuine hoodoo venue, or does West Brom's own promotion push, just a point off top spot, get another game more real?
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