West Bromwich Albion host Queens Park Rangers at The Hawthorns on 12 September 2026 with kick off at 12:30 BST, with Albion leading on 13 points and QPR fourth on 11 after six matchweeks. Both sides are in the top four and a win here opens five points between them with 36 still to play, which at this stage is a gap that takes weeks to recover.
This is the first meeting between James Morrison and Julien Stéphan, with Morrison having taken over on 30 April 2026 following Eric Ramsay, who had replaced Ryan Mason in January of the same year, while Stéphan has been at QPR since June 2025 after coming in for Martí Cifuentes. No tactical history between them to read into, which means everything comes down to how each coach adapts to his injury list and what the opponent shows him on the day.
Wins over Watford and Derby County are solid enough for early September but a draw and a defeat sitting in between them, including the 0-1 loss at Derby on 9 September, show the consistency is not there yet, with the 1-0 win at Watford three days earlier being narrow enough to underline the point. QPR's sequence reads D L W W D, ending with a 0-0 at Charlton on 9 September and having conceded just four goals in six league games, Stéphan's defensive structure is working, though that Charlton stalemate also showed they can struggle when teams make themselves hard to break down.
Morrison is without three players: Brayann Pereira is suspended after a red card, Nolan Galves is out with a knee injury and Mikey Johnston faces a longer spell with an ankle problem. Losing Pereira from the right flank removes an outlet there but Morrison can keep his possession based approach, which has produced nine goals so far this season.
Stéphan's situation is considerably worse, with Ilias Chair and Richard Kone both unavailable through muscle injuries, Tariq Lamptey and Jimmy Dunne ruled out after coming off in the Charlton draw, Karamoko Dembélé absent long term with an ACL injury and Boy Kemper nursing an ankle problem. That is a lot of defensive and creative cover stripped away at once, leaving Glen Kamara to carry much of the midfield burden and Ronnie Edwards to hold together a back line missing its usual depth.
Morrison builds Albion around controlled possession and without Pereira, Isaac Price and Ousmane Diakité will need to dictate centrally while Jimmy-Jay Morgan and Aune Selland Heggebø push into advanced areas. His runs into the space behind QPR's midfield, before Edwards can step up to meet him, can drag Edwards out of position and if Diakité's pressing wins the ball high up the pitch, the transition opens quickly. Kamara will sit deep to protect QPR's back four and distribute to what is left of their forward options, while Burrell, who tends to be at his most dangerous running in behind inside the box, will find service limited and predictable without Chair and Dembélé. Edwards carries an enormous responsibility with Lamptey, Dunne and Kemper all missing and the battle between Morgan's runs and Edwards' positioning is likely to decide whether the home side can break QPR's defensive shape and pull Edwards out of his line. Without Pereira, Albion might use overlapping midfielders or drop a full back to maintain width on the right, which opens lanes for Price to slide passes through for Heggebø. Stéphan will likely press aggressively early to disrupt Albion before they settle, though with so many defenders missing, the logic of that approach is harder to justify than usual.
Across 24 previous meetings, West Brom have won 12 to QPR's six, with six draws. More relevant here is that Albion have not lost to QPR at The Hawthorns in their last 14 league encounters, a record that stands on its own without embellishment.
Albion have a clear focus on set pieces and while losing Pereira and Galves removes some delivery options, responsibility concentrates on Price and the central defenders. QPR arrive with less aerial cover than at any point this season and the combination of that shortage with Albion's delivery from dead balls is the clearest structural mismatch in this fixture.
We're going with 2-1 to West Brom. If Albion can work the ball into wide areas early, the space Edwards is covering alone becomes the story of the game and QPR's depleted back line facing Albion's set piece delivery with reduced aerial cover is the likeliest route to the decisive goal. QPR may equalise through Burrell on the counter but Albion's depth and home record should be enough to get the winner from another set piece in the second half.
Ryan Baldi
Football Writer
Ryan Baldi is a professional football writer with years of experience and has been featured by respected outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Sky Sports, DAZN, FourFourTwo, ESPN, Yahoo Sport and Football365. He has also written several books including Arsène Who?.
