Rarely will the 12th game of a season be as important in the battle against relegation as Saturday's clash between Queens Park Rangers and Southampton. There is, however, little getting past the fact that at this early stage in the campaign, this match is still a real 'six pointer' as the two teams propping up the Premier League table face off at Loftus Road, having scraped together a combined total of just nine points. The upcoming match represents a huge opportunity for one of the sides to pick up a precious three points, but with both teams seemingly defending like they are trying to avoid victory (take Southampton's gift to Swansea last week, for example), it is anybody's guess who will come out on top.



The match sees the team with the worst home record in the Premier League this season host the team with the worst away record; QPR have obtained just three points on home soil, while Southampton have lost each of their five away games so far, conceding an unbelievable 18 goals on their travels. That tally equals the record set by Blackburn in the 2009/10 season for the number of goals a team has conceded in their first five away games of a Premier League season. Little explanation is needed as to why the teams find themselves in the lowly position they do.

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The hosts, after winning each of their last five home matches of the 2011/12 season to save themselves from relegation, have won none of their opening five on home soil this season, though there has been a marked improvement since their opening day 5-0 defeat to Swansea. Draws against Chelsea and Everton will have been seen as points gained and brightened the mood at Loftus Road, but the draw against Reading will certainly be considered a poor result, particularly with the signings made over the summer.

QPR's riches have seen the Hoops' management playing their own version of real life fantasy football in the transfer market, with former Manchester United and Real Madrid players Park Ji-Sung and Esteban Granero making up their central midfield on a few occasions this season. However, with the return to health of both Alejandro Faurlin and Samba Diakite, it seems that Mark Hughes may instead prefer the latter two, and they may start at the weekend. The money spent at Loftus Road has seen a huge squad assembled, but that may actually have hindered their progress, with a severe lack of consistency in team selection. QPR are the only team in the Premier League that have not had a single player start, or even appear, in all of their games this season, while the likes of Wigan have had no fewer than seven players start all of their matches.

That inconsistency could well explain their problems in front of goal, with Bobby Zamora leading their scoring charts with a meagre three goals, and only four other Hoops players having found the net at all. Interestingly, they do not struggle to create chances, with the WhoScored team statistics page showing that they have attempted more shots (149) than 10 of the 20 teams in the Premier League, though their conversion rate of 5% - the worst in the division - leaves a lot to be desired. Their opponents on Saturday, Southampton, have had five shots fewer, and yet have scored seven more goals; the Saints' conversion rate of 10.4% is better than, amongst others, that of Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City this season.

Clearly, Southampton's problems are not in attack, with ten different players having scored for them this season. They have creativity in midfield from the likes of Gaston Ramirez (two key passes per game) and Adam Lallana (1.8), while Rickie Lambert has provided much of their firepower, with 25 attempts and four goals so far. However, their deepest problems are most certainly at the back.

Given that they have conceded 29 goals in eleven games already this season, it is surprising to find that six teams, including QPR, have allowed their opponents more shots than the Saints (175). Their defending since their promotion has not been up to Premier League standards, and their total of six goals conceded as a result of individual errors and own goals brutally highlights the fact that they need to improve at the back. The lack of winning mentality at St Mary's is also an issue, with the Saints having dropped 13 points from winning positions this season, and never having gone on to win after opening the scoring.

Nonetheless, both teams have played some very good football this season, with Southampton particularly unlucky to lose against both Manchester sides having been ahead, and QPR having outplayed both Spurs and Everton for long periods of their clashes. Southampton (420) and QPR (352) have played the 7th and 11th most short passes per game in the Premier League, respectively, while only one side has attempted fewer long balls per game than the Saints (52), and only three others fewer than the Hoops (59). Despite being rooted to the bottom of the league, the teams have stuck to their guns and tried to play free-flowing football, and while we can almost certainly rely on plenty of goals this weekend, the sides should produce a display of good quality football as well.

All stats provided by whoscored.com

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