British & Irish Lions v Argentina Predictions & Betting Preview

A sell-out crowd is expected at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on Friday evening as the British & Irish Lions take on Argentina ahead of this summer’s Tour in Australia.

It is the first Lions home game in front of a full stadium for 20 years, with the contest against Japan at Murrayfield Stadium in 2021 impacted by Covid-19 restrictions so it’ll be the first time many rugby union betting fans have seen the Lions in action.

Head coach Andy Farrell is a popular figure in these parts, leading the Ireland national side since 2019, and he will be keeping a close eye on player performance as the build-up for this summer’s Lions tour intensifies.

Starting Line-Ups:

British and Irish Lions: Marcus Smith; Tommy Freeman, Sione Tuipulotu, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham, Maro Itoje, Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl.

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Pierre Schoeman, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Henry Pollock, Tomos Williams, Elliot Daly, Mack Hansen.

Argentina: Santiago Carreras; Rodrigo Isgro, Lucio Cinti, Justo Piccardo, Ignacio Mendy; Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Garcia; Mayco Vivas, Julian Montoya (c), Joel Sclavi, Franco Molina, Pedro Rubiolo, Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo

Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi, Boris Wenger, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Moro, Simon Benitez Cruz, Matias Moroni, Santiago Cordero.

The Lions, as short as 1/8 in the betting for tonight’s game, won’t have everything their own way though. Argentina are fifth in the world rankings and the Pumas pose a huge threat, which should ensure a competitive contest in Dublin.

The Pumas won three of their six matches in last year’s Rugby Championship and they have beaten three of the four teams above them in the world rankings over the past year or so.

Ireland are the only higher-ranked team to avoid defeat against Argentina during that timeframe but they were given a scare at the Aviva Stadium in November, with the hosts edging to a 22-19 success.

Lions v Argentina Score Prediction:

Winning isn’t the be all and end all for the Lions but the players will want to head to Australia off the back of a victory. Having said that, the Pumas have selected a strong starting XV for Friday’s clash and the tourists will be extremely physical.

Avoiding injury will be at the back of the mind for several Lions players but they should still have the quality to prevail. However, the margin of victory on the handicap line doesn’t carry much appeal at -16 so my suggestion will be to back Argentina at +16 to keep the scoreline respectable.

Prediction: British & Irish Lions 24-17 Argentina

*Odds correct at time of writing – prices subject to change*