The opening match of the Magic Weekend sees the league leaders in action as St Helens look to extend their lead at the top of the table when they take on a Widnes Vikings side who have very much drawn the St James’ Park short straw.
Saints go to the Magic Weekend off the back of a fine win over Castleford in the cup last weekend and they are beginning to look like a force that isn’t for stopping. Widnes will give it a good go but they are up against it here.
Widnes Vikings
The Vikings head to Newcastle with three wins in their 13 matches this term but although they have plenty more defeats than they have wins they only have a point difference of -76 which suggests they are usually competitive when they lose and tend to open up a margin when they win. That shows us that there is nothing wrong with their spirit.
They will need more than spirit if they are going to come through this one and get the two points though. On this big pitch on what is forecast to be a fairly warm day they are going to need to play error free football and be clinical if and when they get down to St Helens’ try line. They will need fresh minds throughout too.
St Helens
Plenty of plaudits are rightly coming the way of St Helens at the minute. They have won 12 of their 14 matches this season and has built up a point difference of 290 points which means they are averaging winning margins way in excess of 20pts this season. They have the best defence in the Super League and have scored 77pts more than the next nearest side, albeit having played a match more.
Watching this St Helens side is like watching the Castleford Tigers last season. They were exciting in attack and feisty and defiant in defence but unlike the Tigers you get the impression that this lot won’t fall at the final hurdle should they make it all the way to Old Trafford. On the big pitch at Newcastle, Saints will be hoping to run riot.
Team News
Widnes Vikings will welcome Danny Walker, Danny Craven, Patrick Ah Van, Joe Mellor and Jimmy Keinhorst back into their squad for the Magic Weekend. They will all boost the Vikings although they will need to.
St Helens go into the match without Kyle Amor who will serve a one-match ban for a reckless tackle in the one-sided win over Castleford in the Challenge Cup last weekend. Matty Lees is the man who has replaced him in the squad.
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Betting
I’m expecting a high scoring beginning to the Magic Weekend. St Helens are averaging more than 42pts per match in the Super League this season and on this massive St James’ Park pitch they are going to be very tough to contain but the one thing this track does provide is enough space for all sides to put their combinations together so there is no reason why Widnes won’t go over now and then.
Putting that all together I think we are on for more than 52.5pts in this one. If St Helens burst through early and break the back of this Vikings side they could cover that on their own but I fancy Widnes will contribute to the scoring too so over 52.5 is the way to get stuck into the Magic opener.
Tips
WON – Back Over 52.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.90 with LeoVegas
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