1. Bobby Zamora should remain the key player in QPR’s attacking plan for their upcoming games
QPR came into this game hoping to win by replicating the performance they showed in their last outing against Liverpool. They managed to get the win but their performance was actually poor compared to the way they played against the Reds.
They had Zamora’s strength and physical presence in the final third to thank as he gave them the option to bypass the middle-third with long balls that the striker would win and lay off to Charlie Austin.
Rangers will face Chelsea and Manchester City before the international break and these sides will dominate possession even more than Villa, so QPR will have to rely on that direct route again to get something in those games.
2. Paul Lambert should be more concerned by his side’s lack of attacking threat
Aston Villa’s defence is not as solid as it was in their opening fixtures, which is most likely due to a dip in confidence after suffering five straight defeats. Lambert will know that he still has decent defenders and a couple of good results will restore the lost confidence.
The main worry though for the Villans is their lack of offensive threat in the last two games especially in this game. They struggled to get good service in the box for Christian Benteke and his partner Gabriel Agbonlahor and their finishing was poor as well.
Benteke will obviously get better with more game-time after coming back from a long term lay-off but the rest of their forwards were alarmingly poor in this game. They rarely created good chances. This has been their strongest area over the years and they need to regain that offensive threat.
3. Robert Green responded well to good competition
Robert Green has been Redknapp’s first-choice goalkeeper this season but the former England shot-stopper was replaced by Alex McCarthy when the Loftus Road club hosted Liverpool. McCarthy staked his claim with a brilliant performance against the Reds.
In his return to goal, Green produced arguably his best performance this season as his decision-making and anticipation was top class. Under-fire Redknapp will be glad to have two keepers who can give him a good shift.
4. QPR missed Niko Kranjcar’s quality in central midfield
Queens Park Rangers may have won the game but they should be concerned with their passing. Apart from the threat they had with direct balls played to Zamora, the R’s were erratic in possession. Leroy Fer, Sandro and Karl Henry were all disappointing in possession as they struggled to string together enough passes to patiently open up their visitors.
This is where they needed Kranjcar. Kranjcar only came off the bench in injury time as he was still nursing a toe injury. In previous games when Kranjcar was fit, he was at the heart of QPR’s best moments in possession, which was totally absent in this game.
5. The performance of Aston Villa’s central midfielders was their biggest positive on the night
It may seem ironic to praise Aston Villa’s central midfielders after Carlos Sanchez’s stray pass led to Austin’s second goal but apart from that, the midfielders were the most impressive aspect of the Villa side.
They patiently worked with the ball, with Sanchez dropping to collect the ball from defenders while Tom Cleverley and Ashley Westwood were neat in possession. Westwood and Cleverley also had the most threatening goal attempts for Villa when they pushed up to assist their forwards.
