Sale v Saracens: Premiership Cup betting preview, free tips & where to watch

Free rugby union tips, best bets and analysis for Sale Sharks v Saracens in the Premiership Rugby Cup semi-finals.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 7.45pm Friday

Best bet

Sale Sharks -20
1pt 10-11 bet365, Betway

Match preview

Sale should be backed to bring the Premiership Cup final to Salford next month with a cosy semi-final success over Saracens at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Sharks boss Steve Diamond set out his stall to win the competition in September by naming the strongest line-ups possible throughout the pool stage when other teams were using the matches as an extension of their pre-season because of their World Cup absences.

And Sale responded by grabbed top seeding for the knockouts with four wins out of four, three with a try-bonus including a 36-17 win over Sarries at Allianz Park.

It is a similar scenario now during the Six Nations campaign. Diamond has decided to pick close to his best-available 15 including star tryscorer Denny Solomona and he even has the luxury of fit-again England World Cup squad back-rower Mark Wilson on the bench.

Sarries, in contrast, are a mix-and-match line-up with a number of youngsters selected around a spine of Scotland centre Duncan Taylor, European player of the year Alex Goode, USA prop Titi Lamositele and experienced flanker Calum Clark.

Morale in the Sharks camp should be high after a 22-19 win at leaders Exeter a fortnight ago took them up to third in the Premiership table. Saracens were hammered 41-14 at Harlequins in their first league outing since their relegation was confirmed.

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