Another exciting and important round of Super League matches begins on Thursday night when St Helens and Huddersfield battle at Langtree Park with third place in the table up for grabs.
St Helens have had a dodgy few weeks with three defeats in a row while Huddersfield have been improving the longer the season has gone on so that will only add to the intensity and the intrigue of this match.
St Helens were going along nicely but a defeat to Leeds in the Challenge Cup semi-final has been followed up by defeats away to the Catalans Dragons and more worryingly at home to Hull FC so they need to get their season back on track here.
They will be boosted by the return to fitness of Tommy Makinson who has been out for a couple of months with a broken leg. Kyle Amor missed the defeat last week and he is expected to return for this match too giving Saints a stronger look up the middle.
Huddersfield are in a good vein of form at the minute. They have won three of their last four with the only defeat in that time being away to Wigan in a match they probably should have got more out of than they actually did.
Paul Anderson has named the same squad that he had for the win over the Catalans Dragons last week which means that Jermaine McGillvary will look to continue his good form. All eyes will be on Jack Hughes ahead of his move to Warrington next season.
These two sides met last month and played out an absolute epic which St Helens won 35-34 with a late drop goal but the form of the two sides has switched a bit since then so I fancy Huddersfield to turn the tables at a decent price here.
St Helens aren’t quite on the top of their game and the might be looking to cruise into the playoffs but all of a sudden the pressure has come back on them and it isn’t always easy to flick the switch and get back into top mode again.
Huddersfield are finishing the season with a flourish and with the likes of Danny Brough and Luke Robinson getting them around the park they look decent value to win this one at just under 2/1.
Back Huddersfield to beat St Helens for a 3/10 stake at 2.88 with Stan James
