Why this game matters
Six games into the season, the Championship table reads West Brom top, QPR fourth — and on Saturday the two meet at The Hawthorns (12:30 BST) with West Brom two points clear at the summit. 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.
A manager who never left, and a full-back who did
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.
The other thread runs through West Brom's own dressing room. Right-back Darnell Furlong came through as a QPR player before West Brom signed him for around £1.5m in July 2019 — he's started for West Brom in defence ever since, and Saturday is another meeting with the club that let him go.
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.
Ilias Chair — QPR's attacking midfielder was directly involved in all three goals on the opening weekend of the season, a 3-1 win over Portsmouth, and remains the player most likely to create something out of nothing if QPR's recent form dips further.
Darnell Furlong — the former player. Seven years after leaving QPR, still a regular starter for the club that replaced him, and up against his old side again.
The numbers
| Stat | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current positions | West Brom 1st (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 unlikely early lead at the top of the Championship get another game more real?