It is potentially a big night in the Super League on Friday night as two of the three sides battling for the league leaders shield meet at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on a night where the home side could secure silverware.
Warrington Wolves head into their match with the Wigan Warriors knowing that if they win they will win the league leaders shield but a defeat will send them to Hull in the final round of matches with their fate still in their own hands but with three sides in contention to top the table.
Warrington Wolves
You have to give the Wolves credit for the way they have bounced back from their defeat in the cup final. On the face of it they have beaten two of the weaker sides they could have played but it is never easy to win in France and the way they beat the Catalans Dragons will have meant more than just a win while last week Widnes were no match for them.
You get the feeling that the defeat at Wembley has really strengthened this side up mentally but this will be a test for them. Quite often they get accused of failing when it counts and here is a chance to show that they can get over the line in the big matches and head into the playoffs in top spot in the table.
Wigan Warriors
If there is a Jekyll and Hyde team in Super League right now it is definitely the Wigan Warriors. They just have no consistency to them at all. Three matches ago they looked devastating in defeating St Helens without conceding a point and then they looked ordinary in losing to Widnes before showing the best of themselves when winning at Hull FC last week.
I don’t think even Shaun Wane knows what he is going to get from his side so everyone else must be guessing but we know they have the second best defence in the league so if they can find some attacking play they can still be dangerous. That said they have comfortably the worst attack in the top six so they will need to be at their best in that area.
Team News
Warrington welcome Daryl Clark and Joe Westerman back into their side for this match but Chris Sandow remains on the sidelines which is a real blow. Kurt Gidley and Declan Patton are set to continue in the halves.
Wigan will bring Oliver Gildart back into their side for this one but once again they are without the influential Sean O’Loughlin. He may well have played his last rugby of the season. Tony Clubb is another who misses this one with injury.
Betting
This one is all set up for a classic. Warrington can win the leaders shield with a win while Wigan have to win to have any chance of stealing it from them next week. We have the two best defences on show here so this is going to be one hard fought game of rugby.
I think the key difference here could be the absence of Chris Sandow. He is the man who really opens defences up for Warrington and while they’ve won without him recently they haven’t met anything as defensively strong as this Wigan side are.
I’m always cautious where Wigan are concerned without Sean O’Loughlin but they coped fine in the St Helens and Hull FC games without him and if the Widnes defeat was just down to them overlooking the Vikings then there is reason to believe Wigan are the side to be on here.
This isn’t a match that is going to be won by a landslide. It is too important and the two defences on show are too good for that so I’m going to take Wigan Warriors and take them to win it by 1-12pts with their half back pairing of Williams and Smith proving to be the difference.
Tips
WON – Back Wigan to win by 1-12pts for a 3/10 stake at 3.80 with Boylesports
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