These London rivals both need the three points on Wednesday evening at Stamford Bridge for very different reasons.

Hosting Chelsea still have hopes of challenging for the Premier League title - despite being 11 points behind leaders Manchester United - while visiting QPR are rooted to the bottom and are eight points from safety.

Rafael Benitez's appointment as Chelsea manager in November was met by resistance by a large number of the club's supporters, but under his guidance the team have lost just twice in 11 outings.

In contrast, QPR have lost their last three matches and are yet to win away from Loftus Road. What's more, the R's have failed to win at Stamford Bridge since April 1983.

Harry Redknapp has been tipped to make a number of changes to the side that lost 3-0 to Liverpool last time out, with Fabio and Esteban Granero expected to come into the starting lineup.

Meanwhile, veteran midfielder Frank Lampard may drop to the bench, despite the fact that he scored both goals during Chelsea's 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday afternoon.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech will also not feature because of an ankle injury.

Recent form

Chelsea: DLWWWW

QPR: DDWLLL

Possible starting lineups:

Chelsea: Turnbull; Cole, Cahill, Ivanovic, Azpilicueta; Mikel, Ramires, Oscar; Mata, Moses; Torres

QPR: Cesar; Onuoha, Nelsen, Mbia, Fabio; Diakite, Granero, Taarabt, Faurlin, Wright-Phillips; Mackie

Sports Mole says: 3-1