Rivals week continues in the Super League on Friday night when the one many call the biggest rivalry of them all plays out another instalment when the Wigan Warriors play host to St Helens in a repeat of the 2020 Grand Final.
St Helens go into this match in second place in the table and looking good for another deep run in the play-offs, while Wigan sit in fourth and will be hoping to consolidate their top six position with a win at the DW Stadium.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Arena channel with the build-up to it beginning at 7pm and the match getting underway at 7.45pm.
Wigan Warriors
This has been a tough season for the Wigan Warriors. Injuries have been a huge part in that. All clubs have had injuries but they seem to have had more than their fair share of them and when they have come along they have been long-term ones which has not given them the chance to really get a settled side onto the pitch and enjoy the consistency that comes with that. The positive, if there is one, is that this has been a thing all season so they will be well adhered to the mindset of everyone having to muck in for the collective cause.
Wigan go into this match off the back of a defeat to Hull KR last week which will have annoyed them but would only fire them up further to get the job done here. The other thing which will fire them up is the fact they were heavily beaten by St Helens in the reverse fixture earlier in the season so they certainly aren’t going to lack for motivation but whether they have cobbled together enough defensive strength to contain their opponents here is another question.
St Helens
I think it would be fair to point out that St Helens are probably the side who have had among the lowest disruption from injuries but they have had Covid-19 problems like most teams so the fact that their defeat to the Castleford Tigers last week was just their third of the season speaks a lot about the quality that they have within their dressing room not just in terms of physical talent but the strength of mind and spirit that they have.
One thing we know about St Helens is they are defensively very strong. That was the surprise last week when they conceded 20 points to Castleford Tigers, although six of them came late on when Saints were pushing for the winning try and got caught on a length of the field interception. Not too much is spoken about their attack, partly because it just grounds sides down rather than dazzles them with flair but it is still one of the best in the tournament.
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Team News
Oliver Partington and John Bateman are back in the Wigan squad after returning from suspension and illness respectively but Brad Singleton remains suspended while Tommy Leuluai has been ruled out for the rest of the season and Sam Powell misses out with a concussion.
St Helens will be without a potent player of their own as Tommy Makinson will begin a two-match suspension here which will rule him out of the derby. That could see Jack Welsby moved out to the wing once again.
Betting
I’ve got to be on St Helens to cover the six points here. I love watching the passion and the competitiveness of this derby but a team is only as good as what they have available and Wigan are missing one or two too many players for my liking. You have to have a settled pair in the halves to come out on top in intense matches like this and Wigan lack that because of injury and you need strength in the pack and the Warriors are devoid of that due to suspension.
St Helens came a cropper against Castleford last week but I sense that is only going to focus them even more for this one and they will be out to not just win this match but deliver a real beating to their rivals. They are not perfect in the halves in the absence of Theo Fages but they are not weakened as much down the spine of the side as Wigan are. I’m sure Wigan will give this a good go but the longer the match goes on I expect St Helens to get stronger and cover a converted try.
Tips
Back St Helens (-6) to beat Wigan Warriors for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Betfair
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