The Super League continues on Friday night with two more matches which probably look better on paper than they might do on the turf. As always on a Friday we have a TV match and a match away from the cameras. We’ll begin as always with the TV game.
St Helens vs Leeds
These two old rivals meet once again with Langtree Park hosting the match between two out of form sides at the minute. St Helens have lost two of their last three while Leeds ended a four game run without a win when they beat Hull FC in a nervy game last week.
Injuries have been a feature for both sides this season and while St Helens remain without some key players, particularly in the back line, such as Tommy Makinson and Adam Swift they will welcome Jonny Lomax back for this game which is a huge boost. Atelea Vea, Mark Percival and Joe Greenwood all return to the squad too.
Leeds are still without some of their key players with Ryan Hall, Tom Briscoe and Danny Maguire among those missing. Joel Moon was named in the original squad but it has since come to light that he isn’t ready to make a comeback here.
Leeds got over the line last week but there wasn’t much that was convincing about it. St Helens were well beaten by the Catalans Dragons last week but the Dragons are going much better than Leeds are right now. The week before Saints beat Warrington and that is a better gauge of their form and a repeat of that performance will win this. With players back I expect them to win and cover a score.
Widnes vs Warrington
When these two sides first met on Good Friday, Widnes were on fire and blazing a trail in the Super League table. Defeat to Warrington in that game has signalled a bit of a slump and they are now down in fifth position.
Warrington themselves have hit a bit of a rough trot of their own with back to back defeats to St Helens and Huddersfield and Chris Sandow has been a big miss for them. He remains out for a while so the Wolves are going to have to find a way to win without him.
That Sandow injury can’t be underplayed. He is the man in this Warrington side who has the genius to unlock the defences and without him their attacking threat is seriously diminished and you need an attacking threat against Widnes because the Vikings are very potent in attack.
Widnes ended a four game losing run with an emphatic win in the cup last week and that match could well have come at a good time for them. They rang the changes for that match but the likes of Rhys Hansbury, Joe Mellor, Charly Runciman, Setaimata Sa and Eamon O’Carroll all return here.
That freshness combined with a confidence at home that Widnes have always had makes them look good value to me and I can’t resist a punt on the home side here.
Tips
Back St Helens (-5.5) to beat Leeds for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back Widnes to beat Warrington for a 3/10 stake at 2.75 with Skybet
Back them here:
