Headingley headache for Warrington
Table topping Wolves travel to Headingley to take on the Rhinos in the first of the weekend's Super League games.
Rhinos have been underperforming as of late and will feel that as a group they aren't in the position they should be. However the vibes coming from the Leeds venue is that they aren't too worried about their position and there is a feeling that in the next two weeks they can start to pick up points.
The Rhinos will be boosted by the fact that they have won their previous four home meetings with Warrington, something which to consider despite the poor form of the hosts. The Wolves last won at Headingley in 2006 when they scraped a 18-17 win in the play-offs.
The Rhinos go into the game with several injuries and are forced to play people out of position to compensate. Wolves will be bolstered by the return of Richie Myler who comes in to replace Gareth O'Brien.
The home side are 7/4 to win this game outright, but you can back them plus six points at 10/11. Warrington will be bolstered by a good run of results lately and the Wolves are 2/5 to win and 10/11 with a handicap of six points.
Warrington come into this game on the back of a 62-0 thrashing of Castleford which was preceded by a 58-14 win over Bradford. Scoring over 100 points in two games gives an indication of how on form their attack is.
Joel Monaghan has scored 12 tries so far this season, the outside back is 8/1 to go over first in the game and you can back him at very short odds of 4/7 to score at anytime. Lee Briers scored a brace of tries in the last match, he could be a good punt at 6/4 to claim a try in this game. The returning Richie Myler is 12/1 to score the first try of the game and 10/11 to mark his comeback with a try at anytime.
Warrington have always been quick starters and at 4/5 you can back a double result of Warrington/Warrington. But with Leeds being at home and in dire need of a win, I think the value is in backing Warrington/Leeds at 9/1.
I think with home advantage that Leeds are the bet for first scoring points at 5/4, they will need to get off to a good start if they are to compete in this game.
With the handicap set at six points you could envisage a Warrington winning margin of 6-10 points at 9/2, but if Leeds are going to win it will be a lot tighter and they are 6/1 to win by a margin of 1-5 points.
I think Leeds are the value bet in this game, they have been fighting doggedly without their preferred 13 for several weeks and at home they will be comfortable. I would be backing Leeds to win at 7/4 and a bet on the winning margin of 1-5.
