Match report
Ten-man QPR snatch late leveller against Preston
QPR and Preston shared a dramatic 2-2 draw in the Championship at Loftus Road, with Julien Stephan's side fighting back from two goals and a red card down to earn a point against Paul Heckingbottom's visitors.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Preston made the perfect start when Johnny Kenny converted from Stanley Mills' assist inside the first minute. QPR's task grew harder in the 15th minute when Dennis Cirkin was sent off, and Kenny doubled the away side's lead on 26 minutes to make it 0-2 at the interval.
Despite playing with ten men for most of the second half, QPR rallied. Kwame Poku pulled one back in the 66th minute, and Paul Smyth snatched a stoppage-time equaliser in the 90th minute to complete the comeback and secure a share of the spoils.
QPR dominated territory and chances throughout, finishing with 30 shots to Preston's 13 and 60 percent of the possession, underlining how their pressure eventually told despite the numerical disadvantage.
Johnny Kenny scored both of Preston's first-half goals and was rated the top performer on the pitch with an 8.95 mark, though it was not enough to prevent his side being pegged back.
QPR's 30 shots to Preston's 13 reflected their territorial control even after being reduced to ten men.
QPR and Preston drew 2–2 (half-time 0–2).
QPR met Preston in the Championship (Regular Season - 8). Kick-off was Saturday, 19 September 2026, 14:00 UTC at Loftus Road. Referee: Thomas Parsons.
Team pages: QPR · Preston · Championship
Key moments
- 1' Goal: Johnny Kenny (assist: Stanley Mills) — 0–1
- 15' Red card: Dennis Cirkin
- 26' Goal: Johnny Kenny — 0–2
- 66' Goal: Kwame Poku — 1–2
- 90' Goal: Paul Smyth — 2–2
Starting line-ups
QPR (4-4-2)
Preston (5-3-2)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave QPR 55%, the draw 29%, Preston 16%. It finished QPR 2–2 Preston.
QPR's rating edge, but the draw is in play — QPR are the stronger side on our strength rating, and their cold finishing due to recover plus their control of the ball on top give QPR a clear lead. The draw at 29% is helped by a draw-heavy league.
Why QPR at 55%?
QPR sit 111 points higher on our strength rating — 1456 to 1345. Sides with a 100–200-point rating edge at home won 57.1% of 12,822 such games. QPR sit -0.44 goals per game below chance-quality — cold streaks like this have bounced back. Finishing swings carry a receipt at this rating gap too: sides finishing this cold won 39.0% of 2,455 such games where the class table expected 36.3%. QPR hold 7 more possession points (50 to 43 in recent games) across a 111-point rating gap. Control now carries a receipt beyond near-equals too: sides with this control edge at a 75–150-point rating gap won 42.6% of 8,693 such games where the class table expected 41.2%. The 300 most similar past games finished 49–30–21.
Why only 55%?
Preston sit -0.65 goals per game below chance-quality — cold streaks like this have bounced back. Finishing swings carry a receipt at this rating gap too: sides finishing this cold won 39.0% of 2,455 such games where the class table expected 36.3%. Championship home sides under-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to draws (26.9% vs 24.9% norm). Championship homes won 43.0% of 8,439 games vs 44.9% across all 100,303 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly.
Why is the draw second, ahead of the Preston win?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 24.1%. These teams' recent games average 2.6 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 26.2% of 27,851. Championship runs draw-heavy, adding 2.0 points. The goals environment adds 1.4 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
QPR are missing 2 regular starters — James Dunne, Ilias Chair — about 18% of their usual starting-XI weight. A body count alone told us nothing. QPR won 4 of the last 6 meetings with Preston. The record is 4 wins for QPR, 2 draws and 0 wins for Preston. These were 6 Championship games played at both grounds between 1 December 2023 and 6 April 2026. Latest meeting: 6 April 2026 — Preston 1–1 QPR. In 5,104 historical matches between similarly rated teams, home sides with the stronger head-to-head record won 43.0%. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the QPR vs Preston final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Championship fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from QPR 2–2 Preston. Explore more on the QPR and Preston team pages or the Championship page.
Quick answers
›What was the final score of QPR vs Preston?
QPR and Preston drew 2–2 (half-time 0–2).
›Who scored in QPR vs Preston?
Johnny Kenny (1') for Preston; Johnny Kenny (26') for Preston; Kwame Poku (66') for QPR; Paul Smyth (90') for QPR.
›Where can I watch QPR vs Preston highlights?
Goal highlights and video clips from QPR 2–2 Preston are on this page — open the videos tab to watch every goal.
›What is the head-to-head record between QPR and Preston?
QPR and Preston have met 10 times — 6 wins for QPR, 2 wins for Preston and 2 draws.