Today’s Bet of the Day: Wednesday, February 19
Back Salford City to beat Newport County on penalties @ 5/1 bet365
Salford City are just 90 minutes away from a trip to Wembley when they take on Newport County in the Leasing.com Trophy.
Salford, who are part owned by the Manchester United Class of 92, have had an incredible few years and they are currently 11th in League Two and not yet out of the running of a possible play-off place.
Their main aim at the start of the season was to avoid relegation, but now they have a real chance of winning silverware for the first time as an English Football League side.
They take on a Newport County side who are in the same division, but they are five places four points behind them. These two have already met in League Two this season with Salford winning 2-1 away from home on November 2.
The Ammies booked their place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 win over Accrington Stanley at Moor Lane, while Newport claimed a 1-0 win over Leicester City U23s at Rodney Parade.
We believe this will be a close affair and with a trip at Wembley on the line, this could be a very tight affair. If the scores are level after 90 minutes it goes straight to a penalty shootout, so we are backing Salford to advance to the final on penalties.
Today’s Bet of the Day: Thursday, February 20
Back Arsenal to beat Olympiacos 1-0 @ 8/1 Paddy Power
Arsenal will travel to Greece on Thursday looking for a first-leg lead in their Europa League Round of 32 tie against Olympiacos.
The Gunners have been going well in the Europa League for the last couple of seasons. They reached the Final last year, before losing to Premier League rivals Chelsea and they are once through to the knockout stages.
Arsenal finished top of Group F with a record of three wins, two draws and just one defeat. Their only loss was when they were beaten 2-1 at the Emirates by second ranked team Eintracht Frankfurt.
Olympiacos are in the Europa League knockout stage after being dumped out of the Champions League. They finished third in Group B and only won one game as they ended up behind Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich.
Arsenal have a good chance of going far in this tournament, and with the incentive of playing Champions League football if they win the competition, they have an extra added motivation.
We are backing the Gunners to keep it tight in this game and feel they will take a 1-0 victory back to the Emirates for the second leg.
Today’s Bet of the Day: Friday, February 21
Back Castleford Tigers to win by 16-20 points @ 11/2 @ bet365
A local derby takes place on Friday evening at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle with Castleford Tigers taking on Wakefield Trinity.
This might not be seen as a massive rivalry like Wigan versus St Helens or the Hull Derby, but it’s quite fierce and there is no love lost between the two clubs.
The Tigers come into this game on the back of their first defeat of the season in another game that they were merely a sideshow in. They were kept out of the spotlight in round one when they defeated Toronto Wolfpack in Sonny Bill Williams’ first game and they were cast aside in the game last Saturday when the controversial Israel Folau made his debut. Folau scored on his debut as the Catalans Dragons ran out 36-18 winners.
Wakefield, on the other hand, come into this game on the back of their first win of the season. It was only their second game as their round two match with Catalans was postponed due to the weather.
They came out on top last Sunday with a superb 18-8 win over Warrington Wolves in Gareth Widdop’s first game in Super League. That was a massive win for Trinity, but Castleford are a different animal on their own pitch. I cannot see anything other than Tigers win in this one.
Today’s Bet of the Day: Saturday, February 22
Back Leeds to beat Salford by 13+ points @ 2/1 bet365
We are backing Leeds Rhinos to register their second win of the season when they take on Salford Red Devils at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday.
The Rhinos were embarrassed in week one when they were turned over 30-4 by Lee Radford’s Hull FC side.
They were unable to fix things immediately, as their round two match against Huddersfield Giants was postponed because of Storm Ciara.
They returned to action in round three and were back to their dominating best as they ran in nine tries in a stunning 52-10 win over Hull KR.
Harry Newman and Cameron Smith both grabbed two tries apiece, while Jack Walker, Ash Handley, Konrad Hurrell, James Donaldson and Richie Myler all got over the try line.
Salford, who have lost two and won one of their three games in Super League this season, will be without star player Kevin Brown for this game and his absence will be a massive blow to Ian Watson and his team.
The former Wigan, Huddersfield, Widnes and Warrington stand-off has been banned for two matches and will miss the visit of Leeds. Brown was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes for a headbutt on Jordan Turner during the 12-10 defeat to Huddersfield, but he has since been suspended for the incident.
We can only see a Leeds win in this one, they will be lifted by their win last time out and we are backing them to win this game by 13 or more points.
Today’s Bet of the Day: Sunday, February 22
Back Wigan to beat Hull FC by 1-12 points @ 7/4 William Hill
Wigan Warriors play back-to-back home matches at the DW Stadium in Super League looking to register their third win of the season.
The Warriors have won both their home matches against Warrington Wolves and Toronto Wolfpack this season, with their only defeat being a 16-12 loss away against Castleford Tigers.
The 32-10 score line over the Wolfpack in round three flattered Wigan a little bit, but they did score some quality tries and looked unplayable at times. Bevan French and Liam Farrell both scored two tries each, while youngster Harry Smith scored and Joe Burgess competed a long range effort.
Hull were unbeaten going into their round three clash against champions St Helens thanks to victories over Leeds Rhinos and Hull Kingston Rovers, but they were turned over 32-18. They were outplayed by the Saints and Lee Radford will be eager to get his team back to winning ways.
Wigan have yet to hit top form yet, but the likes of Bevan French and Jackson Hastings are getting better with each game. We expect those two to shine again and are backing Wigan to win this by 1-12 points.