Can QPR push for promotion this season?

QPR currently sit in fifth place after the first 12 games of the 2019/20 Championship season.

BettingLounge notes that QPR are currently the 11th favourite to get promoted this season, with the best price at 12/1 with William Hill, but is it a realistic possibility?

The Rs will have to improve their defensive record if they are to mount a successful promotion push. 

Only two teams in the league have conceded more goals (21) than QPR so far, and both of those sides currently sit at the bottom of the table (Barnsley & Stoke City).

But, QPR has been prolific in front of goal, scoring 21 goals in their opening 12 games which is the third-highest in the league. 

In fact, three players have scored 18 of those 21 goals between them. Jordan Hugill, Nahki Wells, and Eberechi Eze are all in fine scoring form, with six goals each.

Eberechi Eze has scored three of his six goals in his last two matches while winning and converting two penalties in the 3-2 win over Hull City last time out.

Eze has been a star player in the opening 12 games and currently sits in WhoScored’s Championship best XI, with a 7.6 overall rating (the highest overall average rating in the Championship so far), and he has scored three goals in his last two games.

However, QPR still has a lot to improve if they are going to push for promotion. They are yet to keep a clean sheet in their opening 12 fixtures, and they have lost against other promotion hopefuls in West Brom, Cardiff, Swansea, and Bristol City while conceding 10 goals in those 4 games and only scoring 1.

Without positive results against strong teams in the league, it is unrealistic to hope for automatic promotion, but it is still early in the season, and if QPR can tighten up at the back, it is certainly not out of the question.