Rugby League
Super League preview: Salford no easy pickings for high-flying Saints
We are past the halfway point in the regular Super League season, with the league table really starting to take shape.
It is still all to play for in all areas of the table, with the League Leaders’ Shield, playoff spots and the dreaded wooden spoon all still up for grabs.
Our two fixtures in focus this week include a top of the table clash, as well as a matchup between two teams at opposite ends which could provide a tighter spectacle than their league positions suggest.
We preview two of this week’s Super League matches below.
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Castleford Tigers vs Hull KR, Thursday 20:00
Castleford Tigers are yet to fully hit their stride this season as far as results are concerned, but their recent performances will give the Fords faithful reason to be positive, shown by their 14/5 odds here which you’d imagine a few weeks ago would’ve been much bigger.
Five points from their last six games is certainly not a bad total for a team sitting towards the bottom of the standings, especially when you consider two of those games came against St Helens and Wigan Warriors.
The latter beat them at the Jungle last Friday, but the loss came with heaps of positives for the Tigers. An 8-10 scoreline was much tighter than most expected, with the Warriors capitalising on a Cain Robb yellow card to swing the scoreline from 6-4 to 10-8, from which the Tigers never recovered.
As for Hull KR, they are really flying this season. Currently sat third in Super League, they trail leaders St Helens by a mere two points and have won four of their last five league games.
It is no surprise that they head to Wheldon Road as clear favourites, but their odds of 1/4 seem a touch short and certainly isn’t where the value is found. One weakness shown by the Robins is their tendency to start slowly, shown by the fact it took them 32 minutes to put any points on the board against Huddersfield last week.
This is where we find our angle in for this match, as we expect Craig Lingard’s side to fly out the blocks once again in front of their home fans. Castleford Tigers to score the first points of the game is 6/4.
Salford Red Devils vs St Helens, Sunday 15:00
The other key fixture taking place this week should provide a spectacle as two teams towards the top of the table battle it out on Sunday afternoon.
Salford Red Devils have performed better than many would’ve anticipated this season and, putting aside defeats to Castleford and Leigh, have performed well against those teams in and around them. They have also shown the ability to go toe-to-toe with the best, beating St Helens by four points in the reverse fixture at Langtree Park.
They currently sit fourth, four points off the top of the table and are 11/5 underdogs to repeat March’s result and take two points off the Saints once again.
St Helens topping the Super League table will come as a surprise to no one, but Paul Wellens’ side certainly aren’t running away with it and will have to put in solid performances week-in, week-out if they are to land a 10th League Leaders’ Shield.
As 7/20 favourites here, they will expect to open up a six-point gap on the Red Devils, but it certainly won’t be easy to turn over their opponents on their own turf.
With an abundance of quality on the pitch this will almost certainly be a spectacle, and we expect it to be an enticingly close encounter. St Helens to win by 6-10 points is 4/1.
