After the excitement and entertainment of the Magic Weekend last week, the Super League returns to regular action again on Friday night as the penultimate round of the regular season begins with a clash between the champions St Helens and the Leeds Rhinos.
This is probably now a bigger match for the visitors than it is the hosts as they can officially secure their spot in the postseason with a result here. Saints’ defeat last week means they can no longer win the League Leaders’ Shield but they do still need a result to ensure a bye at the start of the play-offs.
Where to watch
The match will be screened live and in full on the Sky Sports Mix channel with the build-up to the contest beginning at 7.30pm and the match itself starting at 7.45pm
St Helens
We are not used to St Helens losing matches in recent times but when they do lose they generally come out fighting and giving a standout performance. I certainly expect that to happen here purely because of the way they lost last week. To be so far ahead with a few minutes remaining and lose will have stung and they will be desperate to put on a show here and remind everyone just why it is them who are favourites for glory at Old Trafford in a few weeks.
The really surprising thing about that defeat was how their defence suddenly just caved in on them. We are used to seeing that defence stand up to the biggest of tests but it just wilted in a remarkable few minutes. The other thing niggling away at me about St Helens is their attack doesn’t look quite as in sync as it did prior to the injury to Jonny Lomax and that might be something which becomes an issue between now and Old Trafford.
Leeds Rhinos
The Leeds Rhinos enhanced their top six claims with that epic win over Hull FC at the Magic Weekend last week and they need to take that form and confidence into this match with them. Their top six place might already be secured given the fixtures that have to come elsewhere but they won’t want to limp into the play-offs, they will want to go there with some positive results and performances and give off the impression that they are a chance when they get there.
Leeds could yet hunt down the Wigan Warriors and finish in fourth spot which would mean that they host a game in the first week of the postseason. That has to be a big incentive for a Rhinos side who when they have their best team on the park, or close to it, have been perfectly competitive this season. We saw all their battling spirit last week, although we did also see that they can be exposed defensively which is a bit of a concern.
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Team News
St Helens will be without a couple of key players after the fallout of the loss to the Catalans Dragons. James Bentley is out with injury and Agnatious Paasi is starting a very lenient two match ban. Kristian Wolff has confirmed James Roby is fit though.
Leeds Rhinos will be without King Vuniyayawa who sustained an injury at the Magic Weekend. He joins the likes of Luke Gale, Konrad Hurrell, Mikolaj Oledzki, Robert Lui and Alex Mellor in the treatment room.
Betting
I fear a little bit for the Leeds Rhinos. They look to have come out of the Magic Weekend in a much worse shape than they went there with and more importantly worse than St Helens so that certainly doesn’t bode well for a Leeds side who were already without a large number of players because of injuries. The other issue Leeds have is the amount of work they had to put in throughout the game unlike St Helens who are large parts were coasting against Catalans.
There has been six days turnaround since then which will help Leeds but they are without their two star playmakers in Gale and Lui and although the same can be said of St Helens I think their backup options are stronger than that of Leeds. I expect St Helens to want to put on a real performance here and if they do that it is hard to see them not winning and winning well. They just look far more superior at both ends of the pitch.
Tips
Back St Helens (-10) to beat Leeds Rhinos for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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