Warrington v Catalans betting preview, tips and TV channel

Sky Sports Arena, 3.15pm Saturday

It’s second against third in the Betfred Super League as Warrington host Catalans but the bookmakers believe that the gulf between the two teams is wider than just one spot on the league ladder.

The Wolves are overwhelming favourites and are asked to concede a dozen points in the handicap market.

Warrington have started favourites in 17 of their 18 outings this season and have covered the line on nine occasions.

The Dragons are looking to bounce back from last week’s Coral Challenge Cup capitulation at Hull where they went down 51-8 as their defence of the trophy ended with a whimper.

Warrington remain on the road to Wembley and will play the Catalans’ conquerors in the semi-finals after defeating Hull KR 28-22.

In many ways that performance was fairly typical from Steve Price’s team as they threatened to run up a cricket score when going 22-0 up early in the second half.

However, the Wolves then invited their opponents back into the match and the closing stages ended up being more stressful than necessary.

Warrington have also lost the services of Tom Lineham and Jake Mamo due to suspensions after incidents in last week’s win and with regular full-back Stefan Ratchford also sidelined through injury, coach Price may hand a debut to teenager Josh Thewlis.

Catalans counterpart Steve McNamara has his own problems with Remi Casty, Lewis Tierney and Brayden Wiliame all joining an injury list headed by Greg Bird.

The French outfit have won only three times on an opponent’s ground this year but they can boast a 23-22 home verdict over the Wolves in March when a late, long-range penalty goal from Sam Tomkins made the difference.

With heavy rain forecast during the 80 minutes, this could turn out to be a closer contest than the layers are anticipating.

The choice for punters lies between backing the visitors at even-money with a 12-point start or supporting the hosts to get home narrowly at a bigger price.

Backing the Wolves to win by 12 points or fewer at 21-10 is the preferred option.

Six of their 14 league and cup wins have come by such a margin and they’ve also won one match by 13 and two by 14 points.

Recommendation
Warrington to win by one to 12 points
2pts 21-10 Bet 365, Betway

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