London Irish v Gloucester predictions: Lively Exiles have the edge

Free rugby tips, best bets and analysis for London Irish v Gloucester.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 7.45pm Friday

Best bet

London Irish
1pt 21-20 bet365

Match preview

An intriguing Friday night showdown pits a Gloucester team who have just one narrow defeat to Premiership leaders Saracens against a London Irish outfit who have beaten only bottom side Bath, yet bookmakers look right to price it up as a close battle.

Irish also chalked up an opening-day win over troubled Worcester, a result expunged from the record after the Warriors' demise, and all their matches this season have underlined their attacking threat.

The Exiles' five matches have featured 47 tries - including the Worcester game in which they ran in seven - and they may have too much spark for Gloucester, who sometimes look too prepared to allow opponents to make the running.

The Cherry & Whites have shipped as many tries as they have scored in all of their matches, including in that one defeat at Sarries, where they established a 16-point lead in the second half only to be pegged back.

Gloucester's three wins have all been by a single-figure margin, they failed to cover the handicap as favourites in all of them, and were assisted in last week's 31-28 home win over Bristol by the visitors' wayward line-out. Irish, by contrast, have the most successful line-out in the Premiership.

The hosts may be vulnerable to Gloucester's physicality, but the talent they have in their backline looks sure to come to the fore, and they are worth backing at odds-against to edge it.

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