Super League betting: expect a points fest at Widnes

Stuart Jones
26 April 2013

Dennis Betts is without several key defensive players

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It's back to the bread and butter of Super League action this weekend and Stuart Jones picks out his three best bets

"A likely second-row partnership of Gareth Hock and Frank Winterstein offers much more attacking wise than it does defensively and Wakefield should find gaps in the middle of the park".

Widnes Vikings vs Wakefield Wildcats
The stark contrast between Widnes's home and away form has been well documented this season and the layers have certainly factored home advantage into the Vikings price of 1.75/7. The sanctuary of the i-pitch is a big factor, but a mounting injury list is becoming quite a concern for Dennis Betts.

Hep Cahill, Dave Allen and Alex Gerrard are all missing in the back-row and that leaves Betts without three of his hardest working forwards. A likely second-row partnership of Gareth Hock and Frank Winterstein offers much more attacking wise than it does defensively and Wakefield should find gaps in the middle of the park.

Most of Wakefield's key players are expected to start and they have been involved in numerous high-scoring games in the last couple of months. Four of their last five games have resulted in over the total points line of 55.5, and their game against Castleford only fell three points short.

This looks to have all the ingredients of a high-scoring affair and over 55.5 points should be backed at 1.814/5.

Recommended bet

back over 55.5 points at 1.814/5

Salford City Reds vs Castleford Tigers
The bottom two sides clash at the City of Salford Stadium on Saturday night and, with both sides starting to look as if they may be turning the corner, it promises to be a tight contest.

Castleford have managed to cling onto Rangi Chase for now and they need to be winning games like this one if they are to avoid finishing bottom of the pile. Their performance last week against Leeds backed up the improvement they had shown to overcome Widnes in Danny Orr's first game in charge and welcome back first-choice goal kicker Kirk Dixon.

Salford are as low as 1.51/2 to win the game outright and I don't see any evidence to suggest that they should be that short. Castleford look more than a match for them on paper, rate as a more solid betting proposition under Orr, and shouldn't be as big as 2.8615/8 to win the game.

Recommended bet

back Castleford to win outright at 2.8615/8

London Broncos vs St Helens
It speaks volumes about the Saints form that they are giving up just the six points to London, as even away from home they would normally be asked to concede a start way into double figures. Their injury issues are old news now, but they did well to get back into the game at KR last week after Francis Meli's sending off, and still have plenty of quality available.

London made heavy weather of seeing off Featherstone in the cup last weekend and have been beaten easily on each of their last three league fixtures, particularly disappointing when swept aside by Bradford over Easter.

The layers have overreacted to the form of the Saints and they can cover the 6.5 point handicap.

Recommended bets

back St Helens -6.5 points at 1.9110/11