Southampton v QPR score prediction: Saints to stay unbeaten at St Mary's?

QPR scored five at Loftus Road last Saturday and Richard Kone did most of the damage. Three of the goals were his, all inside the first 15 minutes.

Jimmy Dunne added two, the first a header from Harvey Vale's corner coming just before half-time.

That is the form Julien Stephan's side brings to St Mary's, and it deserves respect. It also needs context. QPR lost 3-0 at Birmingham in their last away game and drew three times before that, so the Swansea blitz says less about them on the road than it first appears.

A visit QPR have to survive

Only one visitor has taken anything from St Mary's this league season. Bolton left with a point from a goalless draw in which Eckert felt his side should have had a penalty.

That is the Southampton side QPR meet. It has beaten the play-off teams it has faced lately, as Saints Marching identified, and QPR sit eighth.

Four games have produced five goals, three of them in a 34-minute burst at West Ham. Outside that burst, Southampton have ground out wins, which is fine for the table but is not so good for Saints fans' nerves.

Kuryu Matsuki is one reason to expect a goal. He scored twice against QPR at St Mary's last season, and Saints Marching reported that Eckert has tipped him to reach ten this year.

Eckert hopes to have Cyle Larin and Flynn Downes back. If they are fit only for the final half hour, Lewis Dobbin leads the line after his first Saints goal at West Ham.

The prediction: Southampton 2-1 QPR

QPR will score because they usually do. Kone gives them a threat in behind and Dunne gives them another from corners, and a side with play-off ambitions does not travel to St Mary's to defend for 90 minutes.

Southampton will score twice because their home form dictates it. A win would put them level with Swansea on points if Swansea fail to win at the weekend, making Saturday evening's Championship table a lot more interesting.

If it goes wrong, the likeliest cause is a loose back four handing Kone the sort of space Swansea gave him. Eckert will spend Friday warning about exactly that.

So the answer to the headline is a cautious yes. Southampton 2-1 QPR, and the St Mary's record intact for another week.