The latest round of Super League matches begin with a pressurised clash between the Leigh Centurions and the Wigan Warriors at the Leigh Sports Village on Thursday evening.
Leigh will be eager to beat their local rivals and find some momentum heading into the Middle 8s while Wigan simply have to win else a top four finish would start to become a pipe dream which was unthinkable at the beginning of the season.
Leigh Centurions
Leigh gave themselves a glimmer of hope with a win at Hull FC three weeks ago but since then they have been mullered by the Castleford Tigers and then they went down to the Leeds Rhinos last week so any momentum they were looking to build has well and truly stalled. They need to find something to kick start them in this match.
One of the reasons for the struggles over the last couple of matches has been their inability to score points. They were nilled by Castleford and could only stick up 14pts in a losing cause last week so their attacking play is going to need to be a lot sharper if they are to retain their Super League status this season.
Wigan Warriors
The pre-season favourites to win the title head into this match in sixth place in the league table which is pretty much unheard of. That is because they have gone four matches without a win and they look to be in the middle of a really sticky period right now. While Shaun Wane shouldn’t panic he should be concerned.
One reason for their struggles has been the insane injury list they have had but even recently when some big players have been available they have been unable to find any consistency. What is a real worry is the fact that their defence and their discipline, often their strengths, have become unravelled in recent times.
Team News
Former Wigan man Harrison Hansen is expected to return to the Leigh set up for this match while Curtis Naughton also makes his return from injury but Gareth Hock will not face his old side.
Just when Wigan’s injury list looked to be easing Sean O’Loughlin and Sam Powell and rejoined it and to make matters worse Liam Farrell will miss this match through suspension after mouthing off in the defeat to Hull FC.
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Betting
In terms of the match outcome this isn’t a match I can bring myself to bet on. Both sides are grossly out of form and it isn’t as though they are losing playing well either. Both teams have contributed to their own downfalls with mistakes aplenty in recent times and it could be the one that does the basics the better wins here. We’ve no way of knowing who that will be in advance though.
One bet I do like though is to ride the form of the exciting Wigan winger Liam Marshall. I took him to score anytime at the Magic Weekend recently and he did so on three occasions and he bagged a brace at Hull FC last week. Castleford exposed Leigh down the Centurions’ right hand side a couple of weeks ago and I would expect Wigan to direct the traffic that way so at 4/5 the flyer is a nice price to go over the try line once again.
Tips
WON – Back L.Marshall Anytime Tryscorer for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfred
Back him here:
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