Two teams who have made bright starts to their Super League XXVIII season meet to open up round four of the campaign on Thursday evening when the Wigan Warriors play host to the Catalans Dragons at the DW Stadium.
Wigan lost their opening match of the campaign but have won the two since then without dropping a point while Catalans have opened up with three very different wins and will be looking to maintain their 100% record in Wigan.
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 7.30pm and the kick off coming at 8pm.
Wigan Warriors
After reaching the semi-finals last season but not going on to win the title, Wigan Warriors had immediate motivation to go better this time around. One or two players left and one or two arrived but in the main they have the bulk of the squad that had such a good campaign last year but things didn’t start how they would have wanted it to when they were opened up and comfortably beaten by Hull KR in their first game.
Since then they have won twice and won without conceding. You could argue they haven’t really beaten anything in those matches with Wakefield Trinity expected to finish bottom of the table this season and Castleford Tigers yet to win a game this term, but to win and not concede a single point two weeks in succession is a real good effort. They’ll be tested more on defence here so we might get a better picture of exactly where they are at.
Catalans Dragons
The Catalans Dragons have been one of the better sides in the competition for the last three seasons or so but I think most people expected them to struggle to maintain those standards given the size and standard of player who left that part of France between last season and this one. They look to be making a mockery of those predictions having won their opening three matches, but you could pick holes in the form if you really wanted to.
The Dragons have dispatched Wakefield Trinity, Leigh Leopards and Hull FC, not always in convincing fashion but they have won those matches nevertheless. This will be their biggest test of the season so far and it will be interesting to see how a team which looks more solid than some of the flair teams they have put together in the past actually fare. They are going to need to put points on the board to be competitive here you would think.
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Team News
As you would imagine after two impressive victories, Matty Peet has named an unchanged squad for this match and unless there is a late illness or an undefined injury they are expected to go with the same 17 too.
Catalans Dragons coach Steve McNamara has made two changes to his squad ahead of the trip across the Channel. Cesar Rouge and Romain Navarette are both injured and Loan Castano and Tanguy Zenon come in for them.
Betting
It isn’t very often that this early in a season everything looks to be ticking and be in good order for a team but that does appear to be the case for the Wigan Warriors and I expect their excellent record over the Catalans Dragons in this part of the world to continue. Catalans have come out of their opening three matches with three wins but when you look at their side on paper it doesn’t look as strong as it has in the past and certainly doesn’t look as strong as the Wigan one.
This is not a happy hunting ground for the Dragons. Their last four trips to this ground has seen them suffer 42-0, 46-12, 12-8 and 48-4 defeats and I’m expecting something in that sort of ball park here with the way Wigan are attacking but also the way they are defending. I wouldn’t expect Wigan to nil Catalans because there is enough class in the Dragons side to go over the try line but Wakefield put 24 points on this Catalans defence in week one and Wigan should top that. I expect the home side to cover a dozen here.
Tips
Back Wigan Warriors (-12) to beat Catalans Dragons for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
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