MATRADE Loftus Road

Saturday 10th August 2024 -  12:30
QPR
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West Brom
Stream on WBA TV
Key Events

Pink match pack graphic for QPR with an image of Kyle Bartley wearing the pink kit with QPR & WBA badges on

West Bromwich Albion's 2024/25 campaign begins with a trip to the capital city and a clash with QPR on Saturday lunchtime (ko 12.30pm).

The Baggies, beaten play-off semi-finalists last term, will be hoping for a strong start down in London against a Rangers outfit who ended the previous season in 18th position and six points clear of relegation. 

Albion's last win on an opening day was five years ago at Nottingham Forest (2-1). QPR's last league win on the first day of a new campaign also came against Forest - a 2-0 triumph in 2020. 

A general view of the Stanley Bowles Stand at QPR
Albion visit the MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium on the opening day

Follow the action LIVE

UK supporters can listen to live audio commentary of Albion's season opener against QPR.

Audio passes are available to purchase here.

Overseas supporters can both watch and listen to live coverage of the clash at MATRADE Loftus Road.

Video passes are available to purchase here.

Details for video streaming on WBA TV are available here.

Gez Mulholland and former Baggie Andy Johnson will provide live commentary, with coverage starting at 12.20pm.

Supporters are kindly asked to direct any questions or complaints about WBA TV or WBA Radio to wbatvsupport@streamamg.com.

The club are unable to answer queries about WBA TV or WBA Radio sent to fans@wbafc.co.uk or myalbion@wbafc.co.uk.

Regular updates will also be posted across the club's social media channels throughout the day.

WBA Matchday

The hosts 

QPR's second half of the 2023/24 campaign was extremely strong and they managed to drag themselves away from danger and secure their Sky Bet Championship status.

They only lost six league games from the start of 2024 until the end of the term, winning 10, and they'll be determined to pick up from where they left off at the start of the summer. 

Marti Cifuentes is the man in charge and has been since October 2023. The 42-year-old Spaniard transformed the club from relegation candidates to one of the best-performing sides following his arrival. He has a record of 13 victories, nine draws and 11 defeats from his 33 matches at the helm.

They've added a host of fresh faces to their squad for the upcoming season, including Slovenia international forward Žan Celar, midfielder Jonathan Varane from Sporting Gijon, defenders Liam Morrison from Bayern Munich and Hevertton Santos on a free transfer, as well as French stopper Paul Nardi.

Rangers fans will be keen to see their team challenge for a spot in the top half of the second tier this year and will be confident this group, led by Cifuentes, can achieve that.

QPR manager Martí Cifuentes
Rangers boss Martí Cifuentes has had a positive impact since his arrival in October 2023 in

One from the history books

Albion secured three dramatic Sky Bet Championship points down at QPR in February 2019.

The Baggies took the lead early on through Jefferson Montero, only for Luke Freeman to equalise shortly before the break.

Jacob Murphy fired the away team back in front, however Tomer Hemed's penalty brought the scores level once again.

Darren Moore's men weren't to be denied victory in the capital though and won it right at the end when Jake Livermore slotted home from inside the box.

Watch the highlights below.

The last five at QPR

QPR 2-2 Albion

March 2024, Sky Bet Championship

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QPR 0-1 Albion

November 2022, Sky Bet Championship

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QPR 1-0 Albion

January 2022, Sky Bet Championship

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QPR 0-2 Albion

September 2019, Sky Bet Championship

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QPR 2-3 Albion

February 2019, Sky Bet Championship

Grady Diangana celebrates with Tom Fellows after scoring at QPR in March 2024

The stats

This will be the fourth year in-a-row the Albion have kicked their campaign off away from home (AFC Bournemouth 2021, Middlesbrough 2022 & Blackburn Rovers 2023). It's the fifth consecutive opening game on the road the Baggies have had in the Sky Bet Championship. The last time they played at home on the first day of the season in the second tier was in 2018 (L 2-1 v Bolton Wanderers).

Albion have scored exactly two goals in all of their last three encounters with QPR and in six of the last eight meetings. 

The Baggies have won six, drawn three and lost just one of their last 10 fixtures against Saturday's opponents.

Matheus Pereira celebrates scoring a free-kick at QPR in September 2019
Matheus Pereira scored Albion's first goal in the 2-0 win at QPR in September 2019

The ticket details

Tickets for this weekend's encounter have now sold out.

A total of 1,760 Baggies will be in attendance down in London. Thank you for your terrific support!

A general view of Albion fans signing songs at a game

The Albion colours

Carlos Corberán's men will kick the season off in the pink away kit!

Order it here.

Torbjørn Heggem wearing the pink away kit with his fists clenched and smiling at the camera

An image of Josh Maja celebrating with his teammates

Albion came from behind to claim a fantastic 3-1 opening day victory over QPR on Saturday afternoon.

Lucas Andersen’s effort had initially put Rangers ahead at the MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium - but Josh Maja’s outstanding hat-trick earned the Baggies all three points.

Carlos Corberán’s men return to action this coming Tuesday when they face Fleetwood away in the Carabao Cup.

Josh Maja celebrates with his teammates at QPR

The boss handed a competitive debut to Torbjorn Heggem in the capital, while also welcoming Karlan Grant back with a start following last season’s loan spell.

However his side, despite playing some good football during the early stages, fell behind inside 16 minutes via Andersen’s header.

To their credit, though, Albion didn’t let that early goal deter them - and they found an equaliser midway through the first half. A flowing passage saw Heggem reach the touchline and send his cross towards Maja, who nodded home the leveller.

Josh Maja celebrates with Darnell Furlong

The Baggies were looking bright and, although they couldn’t find another before the break, it took them just six second period minutes to net again.

Another excellent move involving the visitors’ electric midfield eventually enabled Fellows to delicately set-up Maja once more, and he made no mistake in front of the travelling 1,700 supporters.

An image of Tom Fellows celebrating Josh Maja's goal

Albion’s No.9 wasn’t done there, either. He rounded-off a perfect individual performance by securing his hat-trick, acrobatically latching onto a deflected ball for his and the away side’s third.

An image of Josh Maja celebrating his hat-trick goal with a shrug and a smile

While Maja will rightly earn the plaudits, it was an impressive showing from everyone in pink - and there were also further positives in the form of new signings Devante Cole, Ousmane Diakite, Lewis Dobbin and Gianluca Frabotta earning their debuts.

Heggem and captain Kyle Bartley both helped the Baggies preserve their two-goal lead late on as the hosts tried to salvage something, bravely blocking dangerous attempts, while Palmer tipped Jimmy Dunne’s strike over the crossbar too.

And those stops ensured it remained 3-1 at full-time, leaving Albion to celebrate three Sky Bet Championship points in matchweek one.

Albion: Palmer; Furlong, Ajayi, Bartley, Heggem (Frabotta); Molumby (Diakite 76), Mowatt; Fellows (Dobbin 81), Swift, Grant; Maja (Cole 76).

Substitutes: Wildsmith, Taylor, Hall, Heard, Faal.