Toulouse and Queens Park Rangers will go head-to-head in a pre-season friendly in Canet-en-Roussillon on Friday evening.

Both clubs were in action last Saturday and were left disappointed by their respective results, so both will be seeking an improvement here.

Match preview

Toulouse were held to a 0-0 draw by Ligue 2 side Pau in their opening friendly of preseason, and their opponents will get tougher from here on out.

QPR represent a slight upgrade from Pau, but two clubs with European pedigree await later in preseason for Carles Martinez’s men, as they will face RB Leipzig and Sevilla.

Martinez has brought stability to a club that suffered relegation from the top flight at the start of the decade, sealing mid-table finishes in each of their three seasons since returning to Ligue 1.

On top of regaining and retaining their top-flight status, Martinez also delivered a trophy and European football, and after finishing last season with eight points from a possible 12, there is optimism they can build further, and set their sights on the top half.

The aim for QPR will be to return to the Premier League, a decade on from their last season in the top flight, but hope among the fanbase is quite thin heading into the new season.

Marti Cifuentes left his post at the end of last season and has now taken up the vacant role at Leicester City, and the club have turned to Julien Stephan in hopes of improving on their 15th-placed finish.

Stephan will have faced Toulouse numerous times before, during his spells with Rennes and Strasbourg, and the new QPR boss even turned out for the French club briefly during the 2001-02 season.

However, Stephan will want to see huge improvements from his squad, after they were thrashed 6-0 by second-tier Spanish side Castellon last weekend, just a few days on from an impressive 5-0 win over Stevenage.

QPR will return home to play further friendlies against Cardiff City, Heerenveen and Brentford in the coming weeks, ahead of the start of the Championship season against Preston North End on August 9.

Toulouse Club Friendlies form:

D

Queens Park Rangers Club Friendlies form:

W L

Team News

Aron Donnum missed the back end of the previous campaign with injury for Toulouse, and even though he was present in the Norway squad last month, he missed the draw with Pau last week.

Elsewhere on the injury list, Niklas Schmidt and Rasmus Nicolaisen will remain sidelined for preseason after they suffered long-term setbacks last season.

Only one new player has come through the door at Toulouse so far this summer, and that is Mario Sauer, but he will not be present here after being allowed additional time off over the summer after representing Slovakia Under-21 at the Euros last month.

A first start could be in store for QPR new boy Kwame Poku, who has arrived on a free transfer from Peterborough United, while Aussie pair Kealey Adamson and Jaylan Pearman are both settling in after their moves from the A-League.

However, Alfie Lloyd, Steve Cook and Jake Clarke-Salter will all miss out once more for the English side due to injury in this one.

Toulouse possible starting lineup:

Dominguez; Sidibe, Canvot, McKenzie, Kamanzi; Saka, Vossah; Aboukhlal, Babicka, Gboho; Magri

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:

Walsh; Bennie, Mbengue, Morrison, Larkeche; Dembele, Vale, Field, Chair, Poku; Celar

We say: Toulouse 2-0 Queens Park Rangers

As a top-flight club with greater resources and a strong squad of players, Toulouse will be favourites to win here, especially after QPR’s chastening defeat a week ago, but the result is not overly important in games like this, as both sides ease themselves back into full fitness.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Andrew Delaney

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