QPR meet Fulham but how much do they really dislike each other?

Only 3.2 miles separate the clubs but they have other rivals

Queens Park Rangers welcome Fulham to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium as the two clash in the Third Round of the FA Cup.

This will be the 40th meeting between QPR and Fulham and the ninth to be held in January.

Fulham lead the series 18-14 with seven draws. Five of those meetings including the first in 1906 were cup ties. They met again in the FA Cup in 1972 and 1979. Fulham were the victors on all three occasions as well as the sole meeting in the League Cup.

The Cottagers currently sit in 18th place in the Premier League having just won twice in their last nine league outings.

In the current era, the visitors have gone five games without a victory in the Premier League. QPR have recorded just one win in 12 fixtures in the Championship, but on Saturday someone has to win with replays being scrapped in this year’s FA Cup.

QPR boss Mark Warburton’s preparations should be bolstered by the postponement of their tie with Luton. His squad is fresh and he has few injury concerns after a tough stretch of eight matches in 29 days.

Like all clubs though, we will have to wait for Covid-19 testing to be complete before he can select his XI. Having experimented with five at the back against Norwich last time out, Warburton could stick with it.

Fulham are still dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19 among the playing squad and staff which has affected recent fixtures with Tottenham Hotspur and Burnley. Manager Scott Parker may have once had a notion to play fringe players in this tie but the lack of recent competitive match practice for his first choice XI may have altered that.

They performed adequately in the recent 0-0 draw with high flying Southampton on Boxing Day although for once VAR was their saviour rather than a witness for the prosecution. Holding midfielder Mario Lemina missed the Southampton game as the Saints are his parent club, so expect him to feature if available.

How strong is the rivalry in an area where two other clubs, Brentford and Chelsea, play in close proximity?

Ben Kosky, author of the book “Are You Rangers In Disguise?”  (available on Amazon too) told us:

“London football rivalries can often be complex, but QPR vs Fulham is one of those that always genuinely matters to fans of both teams – irrespective of the strength of their respective line-ups on Saturday.

“Your view on the importance of these derby games depends on the era in which you grew up.

“For me, the games against Chelsea were always the biggest – because until the late 1990s, the two clubs were genuine rivals.

“Fulham and Brentford rarely figured on the radar. But although all four clubs’ fortunes have fluctuated since then, the QPR-Fulham match-up is probably the only one where fans on both sides feel just as strongly about the importance of winning that game.”

All FA Cup

Another QPR fan Joe Hylton told us:

“I don’t look on FFC as rivals, of course I want Rangers to beat them every-time we play, but no, for me they don’t fall into the rivalry/hatred category, as far as I’m concerned that rivalry and pure unadulterated despised hate, is reserved for them who share the same FFC postcode!”

“As a distant fan I don’t really get caught up in the local rivalry thing. I like Parker and rate the job he is doing there. Love his post-match interviews, our man could learn a thing or two from him there.”

Rich Jacobs agreed with Joe Hylton’s view on the hierarchy of rival:

“Although a neighbouring team and always delighted to beat Fulham and for that matter Brentford, our proper rivalry is reserved for another team in the West London area. Regretfully we’ve not played them in recent years! Hopefully soon.”

Alan Drewett is a Fulham fan agreed with Kosky that the age of the fan had an impact:

“In my list, they will be third but back in the 70s-90s, they’ll be many people’s first. It depends on what era you started supporting Fulham really.”

Paul Hichins a fellow Fulham fan added:

“QPR probably were one of the biggest local Derby games but Brentford have now become the noisy neighbour.”

Given the current state of the world as well as both club’s recent league struggles, it seems that getting one over their neighbours is one of the less important factors.

Kick-off is at 3pm and you can follow my live tweets from a hopefully not Baltic Loftus Road at this link.

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