Widnes v Salford: Vikings will fail to plunder the points
Published:Widnes Vikings entertain the Salford Red Devils having won five on the bounce in Super League but Denis Betts’ side will struggle to keep that run going at the Select Security Stadium.
The wounded visitors were given a rude awakening in last week’s 38-0 humbling by St Helens, however that trouncing is only likely to galvanise coach Brian Noble’s star-studded squad.
Widnes are the 4/7 favourites for the win but the bigger value lies in backing Salford to bounce back at 6/4, with the draw priced at 16/1.
Noble has recently stated his intention to gain the respect of his Super League rivals while ambitious owner Dr. Marwan Koukash tweeted “”We won’t play this bad again” following his side’s first defeat of the season against the rampant Saints.
The pair’s defiant rhetoric will no doubt be of comfort to fans but it’s on the pitch where the team can really make a statement, starting with their visit to Cheshire.
Such is the strength in depth of the Salford squad these days former NRL stars Junior Sa’u and Steve Rapira have been called in to help fill the gaps left by second row forward Gareth Hock and centre Francis Meili who are both out with injury.
Sa’u scored 26 tries in 86 games for the Newcastle Knights between 2008 and 2012 and is a 14/1 shot to go over the line first and an appealing 6/4 to score a try at any time.
Meanwhile, Widnes full-back Rhys Hanbury, a scorer in the Vikings’ victory over Huddersfield Giants last time out, is 9/1 to open proceedings.
And a high-scoring encounter should be in store here. The five previous meetings between these two sides have seen an average of 54 points scored with the 5/6 on over 50.5 points certainly worth backing on this occasion.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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