The first spot in the Super League Grand Final will be filled on Friday night when St Helens host Wigan Warriors in the biggest match of the season so far. All matches between these two are big and while there is next week for the loser, the reward is a massive one.
St Helens had last week off and watched on as the Warriors had to battle hard to make it through to this tie and the leaders will hope that gives them a significant advantage in this match. This is set up to be a cracker.
St Helens
Undoubtedly the best team in the regular season was St Helens but they created one or two doubts over their credentials for this title when they made a mess of the Challenge Cup final, and so they will be out to prove their critics wrong and make it through to Old Trafford at the first time of asking. Given that there is next week for the loser, Saints can relax a little and allow their best rugby to come out which could be significant.
St Helens have been the best attacking side in the Super League and the best defensive unit too and won the regular season by some 16pts but such is the nonsense of the format of this competition, that counts for absolutely nothing from here on in. If Saints are going to be crowned champions they have to find two more wins either here or next week and then at Old Trafford in a couple of weeks.
Wigan Warriors
Given that they have had a full week to recover it might be no bad thing that Wigan were forced to play an intense match last week. We saw on Thursday night that the battle did Salford Red Devils no harm and all connected with the DW Stadium outfit will hope that it works out well for them too. There is no doubt that Wigan go into this match in excellent form and indeed if form is a guide it could well be them who lift the trophy at Old Trafford.
Wigan showed off their excellent defence last week, although we knew that always existed anyway. It will be tested to the full here but we shouldn’t necessarily expect them to fail that test. Where their success or otherwise will come is in the form of their attacking play. They have been hot in that area in the main in recent times but this is the ultimate test of their credentials in that regard.
Bet on the Super League with sponsors Betfred. New customers can get £30 in free bets + 30 FREE SPINS when you bet £10. Ideal for the Sheffield extravaganza! Click the image above to take up this promotion. 18+ T&Cs apply
Team News
St Helens have had a couple of weeks off to work on their plans and get everyone over any bumps and bruises that they might have. They make one change to their squad with Aaron Smith coming back in for Matty Costello.
Wigan Warriors will be without Dan Sarginson who is still out with a hamstring injury but they do have Ollie Partington back from suspension which could be important. Sam Powell has been named in the squad but he remains a doubt.
Betting
Wigan Warriors looked like Grand Final winners to me last week and I’m going to take a chance that they can build on that form and cause something of an upset here. I think either way we’re going to see a tight contest here so Wigan with the eight point start looks a pretty obvious bet but I think they’ve a great chance of winning the match on top of that so they are going to be my two bets.
It sounds like a huge advantage to have a couple of weeks off like St Helens have had but sometimes that can create a little bit of rust. The big thing for me is Saints have to deal with the fact that having been 16pts better than any other side this season they are back on a level playing field here albeit with home advantage. We see in all sports how teams over a range of games get nowhere near their opponents but beat them in one-off matches. Wigan tick enough boxes to merit support for me.
Tips
Back Wigan Warriors (+8) to beat St Helens for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Coral
Back them here:
Back Wigan Warriors to beat St Helens for a 2/10 stake at 3.75 with Betway
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
