Sheffield Wednesday face QPR this weekend, in what feels like their biggest game of the season so far.
Sheffield Wednesday journey down to West London to face a rampant QPR side on Saturday.
For much of the season so far, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday have sat in 22nd and 23rd place of the Championship table respectively.
And both have shown huge improvements in the past few months, though it’s QPR who have pulled themselves out of the bottom three.
Back-to-back wins over the Easter break sees the R’s up in 16th and now six points above the drop zone, whilst Wednesday remain in 23rd, and two points adrift.
Sheffield Wednesday beaten at Middlesbrough on Easter Monday
Sheffield Wednesday are now winless in four after a 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Easter Monday.
Boro scored either side of half-time and left Danny Rohl looking as angry as he ever has done after a Sheffield Wednesday defeat.
Rohl blasted the unacceptable performance against Middlesbrough.
Several players looked more-than-lacklustre in the game at the Riverside, with the likes of Barry Bannan even coming under the spotlight.
But there’s one player who seems to have been in very average form for too long now.
Anthony Musaba earns 4/10 ratings after sub-par Middlesbrough performance
Anthony Musaba has eight goal contortions to his name for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship this season; more than any other player.
Without his goals, the Owls would be down and out already.
But for too long now, the Dutchman has been bang average in attack; he’s started the last four games and Wednesday are winless in all four.
That may be coincidental, but Musaba’s Middlesbrough performance, which The Star rated 4/10, summed up his lack of end product in recent weeks.
Not only that, but Musaba too often looks to move forward with the ball and ultimately runs into traffic and loses possession.
As per Sofascore, Musaba lost possession 7 times against Middlesbrough.
Djeidi Gassama has to return vs QPR
A better option for QPR, depending on what shape Rohl goes with, could be fellow summer signing Djeidi Gassama.
There was a period throughout the middle part of the season where Gassama had replaced Musaba in the XI, often playing in various roles.
Rohl has deployed Gassama in a central position and on the flanks too; whilst Musaba seems more natural in that wide attacking role, he’s just not providing the goods right now.
Gassama though is someone who’ll always put in the yards and who can provide that spark; he’s scored three goals himself in 2024, compared to Musaba’s one.
Whenever both have played at the same time, they both just seem to try and do the same thing, so keeping one on the bench as an impact player might work better.
And we’ve seen Musaba do that role effectively this season, coming off the bench in games against Stoke and having a huge impact.
QPR is a huge game for the Owls who still have a good chance of staying up, though after recent performances, it’s looking more and more improbable.