Widnes Vikings will be really up against it on Monday as they look to do the double over Super League leaders Wigan Warriors at the DW Stadium - Can lightning strike twice?
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Having dominated for much of the Super League campaign so far, Wigan Warriors will still be scratching their heads over how they lost to Widnes Vikings earlier this term, but they have a chance to put things right on Monday night (Wigan 1/250, draw 66/1, Widnes 20/1 – BetFred Match Betting).
Wigan head coach Shaun Wane suffered a big shock when his side went down 37-36 at the Stobart Stadium back in March but as it came early in his new role with the Lancashire outfit, it could have been down to a lack of experience.
That day, Wane decided to rest a host of star players but would still have expected his side to have come away from Widnes with the two points.
Little did he know that the Vikings were more than up for the battle and they really caught Wane and his Warriors off guard.
However, both the coach and the players at the DW Stadium have come a long way since then and they are looking like the team to beat in both the Super League and Challenge Cup this season.
Full-back Sam Tomkins (5/1 first tryscorer), who missed out on the defeat to Widnes, is set to start and, as he has been all year, he will be a constant threat to the opposition defence.
One man who has come on in leaps and bounds this season has been Darrell Goulding (8/1 first tryscorer) and his ability to break the line, score tries and create them for those around him has been impressive. He is a very promising talent.
Josh Charnley is set to be another potent threat in attack, with his power and pace contrasting nicely with the agility and trickiness of Tomkins’ movement.
So Widnes will certainly be up against it and not many people will give the Vikings a chance of raiding the DW Stadium for two Super League points on Monday and doing a historic double.
Widnes boss Denis Betts, who enjoyed his finest days as a player at Wigan, endured a torrid start to his first season back in the top flight but now his side are starting to become more competitive.
A win over Huddersfield Giants at the Stobart earlier this month showed that the club are still moving in the right direction, although their narrow defeat in their last outing against London Broncos will have been seen as a frustrating step backwards.
Widnes will really be up against it when they make the trip to the DW Stadium and it’s hard to see the Vikings doing the double over Wigan.
However, it might not be as one sided as people might think and Widnes with a +40.0 handicap could be worth a look at, with Betts determined to cause an upset against his former club (Widnes 10/11 +40.0 handicap).
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