Saturday's European Champions Cup predictions and rugby union tips

Free rugby tips, best bets and analysis for Saturday's European Champions Cup matches.

Wasps v Clermont

Where to watch

BT Sport 3, 12.30pm Saturday

Best bet

Clermont -6
1pt 10-11 general

Match preview

French side Clermont have never lifted the European Champions Cup despite reaching three finals, but they have carved out a reputation for themselves as the tournament's great entertainers.

Six of their last nine matches in the tournament have topped the 50-point mark, and they opened this campaign in typical swashbuckling style with a 51-38 victory at Bristol, followed by a 39-31 reverse at home to Munster.

They are six-point favourites for their trip to Wasps, who have won just one of their last six Premiership matches.

Clermont covered that mark at Premiership clubs Bath and Harlequins last season and saw off Northampton 41-20 at Franklin's Gardens the year before on their way to Challenge Cup success, so their star-studded side should be confident of running up a big score again.

Munster v Toulouse

Where to watch

BT Sport 3, 3pm Saturday

Best bet

Toulouse -2
2pts 10-11 general

Match preview

This fixture has produced some classic contests over the years, and four out of six have gone Munster's way, but it may be Toulouse's turn to shine.

A famous semi-final win in Bordeaux 21 years ago is part of Munster rugby lore, and more recently the teams have met twice in the quarter-finals in the last decade with Munster victorious in both, by 24 and 25 points.

But the teams stand at different levels at the moment and Toulouse, semi-finalists in the last two season and leaders of the Top 14, can claim a rare Thomond Park victory.

Like the French national teams, Les Toulousains, brilliantly marshalled by half-backs Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack, are breaking the mould of French rugby, as underlined by their away record in the Top 14 this season. Toulouse have won seven times from ten games on the road, more than any other club.

Munster may feel their own achievements of a 14-win season in the Pro14 is overlooked because they can't keep pace with rivals Leinster, but there may be some knock-on effect from last week's 16-6 defeat to Leinster in the Pro14 final last week, and combative flanker Peter O'Mahony is injured.

Exeter v Lyon

Where to watch

BT Sport 3, 5.30pm Saturday

Best bet

S Simmonds first tryscorer
1pt 5-1 bet365

Match preview

Exeter barely had time to draw breath after their Champions Cup and Premiership double last season, and since the start of the year they have struggled to keep up to their high standards.

The Chiefs have picked up six wins and lost five times in 2021 and have used the full depth of their squad in recent weeks but look to be back to their strongest 15 for the visit of Lyon.

Internationals Stuart Hogg, Henry Slade, Jonny Hill and Jonny Gray return, brothers Joe and Sam Simmonds are back, and it's no surprise to see a handicap set in the mid-teens against a Lyon side who have lost their last 11 away European matches.

Exeter have scored more than 30 points in eight of their last ten European matches, scoring 28 and 22 in the other two, and Sam Simmonds, top scorer in the tournament last year, is always at the heart of their attacking play.

The powerful number eight is odds-on to get on the scoresheet at Sandy Park but the 5-1 that he scores first is worth taking as he such a key component of the Chiefs' favoured line-out catch-and-drive weapon.

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