Leicester can close on Championship crown by beating QPR

No Championship club has drawn a blank less often than Leicester City. Nigel Pearson’s promoted Foxes have failed to score just three times in the league all season and have suffered just two home defeats. Coral thus make them odds-on 10/11 favourites to win their first outing this Easter against QPR.

Those records of top scorers in the division and most points picked up on their own patch contrast sharply with the away form – two victories in eight – of Harry Redknapp’s Hoops (14/5 for three points here). It’s 13/5 on a draw.

Going into the Easter weekend, QPR were the team that had netted the fewest goals on the road in the top half. The pre-season promotion favourites also accrued the joint-least away points total, with Ipswich, from the seven sides realistically in the hunt for a play-off place.

Each of the Hoops’ last four meetings with Leicester has resulted in a win to nil, two apiece for either team. QPR are 7/1 to be victorious without reply at the King Power Stadium, while their hosts are 12/5.

Foxes stopper Kasper Schmeichel has won on every previous encounter against the Hoops, keeping two clean sheets. Odds of 17/10 say the home team will shut out their opponents here. Schmeichel has 14 Championship clean sheets to his credit, but Hoops goalie Robert Green has three more, and is 4/1 to keep an 18th in the East Midlands.

Pearson’s side have not won since their promotion to the Premier League, after a decade out of it, was confirmed. Leicester have recorded a solitary victory from four attempts in April, and that is because their strikeforce looks to be running out of steam after a gruelling campaign.

Only one player on their books that can operate as a centre forward has scored this month. That was Gary Taylor-Fletcher, who has two in his last five outings against QPR, and is 7/4 to net anytime here.

Jamie Vardy, meanwhile, is back from a groin problem, but has just one in five appearances. He was on target in the reverse fixture, grabbing the only goal of the game, so back him to repeat that at 5/1 to score first.