Pre-Season Friendly
Saturday 1st August 2009
Loftus Road Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00
Queens Park Rangers V Southampton
By thegodfather

With the new season just one week away, Queens Park Rangers play Southampton in what will be the Rs’ final friendly match of the pre-season campaign. Super Hoops supporters can expect to see new signing, Alessandro Pellicori, in action. The striker joined the club as a result of a successful trial period. After the departure of last season’s top scorer, Dexter Blackstock, Magilton will be relying on the Italian to net the goals needed to challenge for the play-offs.

Southampton

The future suddenly looks a lot brighter for the Saints. After their ten-point deduction and relegation from the Championship, it seemed as though the club was on the brink of liquidation. However, in came Swiss businessman, Markus Liberherr, to finally provide Southampton with some financial stability. Immediately, Mark Wotte was sacked and replaced by the experienced Alan Pardew. At the moment, it really does look like the Saints could challenge for promotion next season.

With just a week to wait until the new campaign, Pardew will be expecting a very good performance from his side on Saturday afternoon. Yes, pre-season results are insignificant, but I am sure that the Saints would like to go into their match on August 8th on the back of a victory.

Men to watch

1. Attacking midfielder, Adam Lallana, is a player with massive potential. Last season, the 21 year-old earned himself a call-up to the England Under-21 squad with his impressive performances. Following the Saints’ relegation to League One, there had been concerns that Lallana would leave the St Mary’s Stadium. However, to the relief of the fans, he has pledged his future to the club.

2. Queens Park Rangers will remember goalkeeper, Kelvin Davis, from his incredible performance during the Rs’ 4-1 victory over Southampton last year. For much of the ninety minutes Davis single-handedly kept the Saints in the match with some world-class saves. The 32 year-old continued his good form throughout the 2008/09 campaign but his heroics were not enough to keep the team in the Championship.

3. Marek Saganowski signed for Southampton in 2007 after a successful loan spell at the St Mary’s Stadium. The 30 year-old can play in attacking midfield or up front and could play a key role for the team next season. Despite spending time out on loan with Aalborg, the Polish international has announced that he wishes to finish his career with the Saints. Saganowski is a very talented player who will need to be marked closely by the Queens Park Rangers defenders.

Form

QPR: Queens Park Rangers have enjoyed a rather successful pre-season campaign. There have been no horror injuries and some promising performances. The Rs go into this game on the back of two victories over Wycombe and Kettering Town.

Southampton: The Saints won their previous game against Hearts very comfortably indeed. The match finished 3-0 to Pardew’s side. Let’s hope that they don’t repeat the same sort of performance on Saturday afternoon!

Team News

Alejandro Faurlin sustained a minor thigh strain during the pre-season programme and is likely to miss out on Saturday. Lee Cook will definitely be unavailable through a knee injury. Akos Buzsaky, Rowan Vine, Martin Rowlands and new signing, Alessandro Pellicori, are all expected to be involved.

Prediction

After facing several non-league teams over the last few weeks, this will be Queens Park Rangers’ first real test in a while. There is a real sense of optimism around the St Mary’s Stadium at the moment and Magilton should expect a rather difficult match on Saturday afternoon. Nevertheless, in front of their own supporters, I expect the Rs to come out on top with a relatively comfortable victory.

Queens Park Rangers 3-1 Southampton