San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams predictions & NFL betting tips

Free American football tips, best bets and analysis for San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & NFL, 11.30pm Sunday

Best bet

Los Angeles Rams -3.5
1pt 20-21 bet365, BoyleSports, Hills

Match preview

The Los Angeles Rams will be hoping it is third time lucky when they face divisional rivals the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC Championship.

The Niners won both regular season meetings with the Rams this term and head to SoFi Stadium on a six-game winning run against their west coast neighbours.

There would be no better time for head coach Sean McVay to break the hold 49ers counterpart Kyle Shanahan seems to have over him, and the Rams head into their second NFC title decider in four years in great shape and also in the knowledge that victory would secure them home-field advantage in a Super Bowl.

Los Angeles’ defence is peaking at the right time and dominated Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for most of their divisional round clash. The Rams' defence played so well that they managed to still beat last year's Super Bowl champions despite their offence losing four fumbles.

The Rams suffered a similar bout of the jitters in their Week 18 meeting with the 49ers, who they let back into the match having seemed in complete control.

LA quarterback Matthew Stafford was partly to blame for that collapse but he has looked composed since the playoffs started, helping to orchestrate an offence which features the NFL's top wide receiver Cooper Kupp.

The 49ers showed great resilience to fight back in that Week 18 contest against LA and that's carried over into the playoffs, edging out NFC favourites Green Bay Packers on the road in the divisional round.

The Packers couldn't find a way past the Niners' outstanding defence, but while that unit is shining, their offence is a cause for concern. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo struggled throughout that success and the Niners have scored just two touchdowns in 20 possessions in the postseason.

Sooner or later Garoppolo, who has thrown six interceptions in the last four games, is going to be found out and winning this game looks likely to be one step too far for San Francisco.

A Rams defence featuring Aaron Donald and Von Miller will make it a tough evening for Garoppolo, who simply can't be trusted to make the big throws the Niners will need to keep pace with the home team's offence.

The lowdown

Venue SoFi Stadium
Surface Artificial
Weather Indoor
Vegas handicap Los Angeles Rams -3.5
Vegas points line 46

Key stat

The Rams have covered the spread in five of their last six games against NFC opponents.

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