Today’s Bet of the Day: Tuesday, February 25
Back Brentford to beat Luton Town & over 2.5 goals @ 11/8 Paddy Power
Luton Town and Brentford need three points for different reasons when they lock horns in the Championship on Tuesday evening.
The Hatters are currently rock bottom of the Championship with 30 points and are six points from safety. They had moved off the bottom a couple of weeks ago with wins over Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough but defeat to Charlton Athletic on Saturday and win for Barnsley saw them drop back down.
Luton Town cannot afford to be dropping many points if they are to avoid relegation back to League One. It is very tight at the bottom with the likes of Barnsley, Wigan Athletic and Stoke City starting to pick up points.
Brentford, on the other hand, have more pressing matters on their mind. They find themselves in fourth place on the league ladder and are only six points away from second placed Leeds United.
The Bees are currently unbeaten in their last five matches, although they have drawn their last three. Their last win was a 3-2 home success over struggling Middlesbrough, while they come into this game on the back of a 2-2 draw against Blackburn Rovers.
Brentford found themselves 2-0 down at home to Blackburn with Adam Armstrong opening the scoring on 11 minutes before converting a penalty nine minutes after half time. The Bees refused to lie down and they hit back with Ollie Watkins in the 62nd minute, only for Said Benrahma to rescue a point in the 71st minute.
Brentford need to get back to winning ways if they are going to secure promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history. We are backing them to win this game with over 2.5 goals.
Today’s Bet of the Day: Wednesday, February 26
Back Barnsley to beat Hull City to nil @ 22/5 Unibet
Barnsley will be chasing their third successive win in the Championship when they travel to take on Hull City on Wednesday evening.
The Tykes, who are second from bottom with 31 points, are fighting hard to get out of the Championship drop zone and they have done their cause the world of good in recent weeks.
After being booed off the field at Oakwell after a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Birmingham City, Gerhard Struber’s men picked up maximum points from their next two matches.
They went to high-flying Fulham and came away with a 3-0 with former Fulham striker Cauley Woodrow scoring either side of a great goal from Jacob Brown.
They backed that up with a 1-0 home win against Middlesbrough with Conor Chaplin scoring his 12th goal of the season in the league.
Hull City need to be careful that they don’t get dragged into the relegation dogfight. They have failed to win any of their last eight league matches and are now only seven points above the drop zone.
The Tigers last picked up maximum points on New Year’s Day when Jarrod Bowen scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 over Sheffield Wednesday.
Bowen has since the left the club to join West Ham United, while Kamil Grosicki also left the Tigers in January to join West Bromwich Albion. The loss of those two players have seen Hull struggle, they did bring in winger Mallik Wilks from Barnsley on loan, but he will be ineligible for this game.
Since beating the Owls, they have drawn two and lost six. They come into this game on the back of a 2-1 defeat at Preston North End despite taking the lead through Wilks.
Barnsley are full of confidence at the moment and the front three of Woodrow, Chaplin and Brown would cause problems against any team. We are backing the Reds to win this one to nil and keep a third consecutive clean sheet.
Today’s Bet of the Day: Thursday, February 27
Back Castleford Tigers to beat Hull KR by 13+ points @ 6/5 Paddy Power
Hull Kingston Rovers will be looking to end a run of three successive Super League defeats when they host Castleford Tigers on Thursday evening.
The Robins, who have been heavily backed to be relegated this season, opened up the campaign with a win over Wakefield Trinity. But since then, they have failed to pick up a single point – going down against Hull FC, Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants.
Hull KR go into this game without hooker Matt Parcell because of an ankle injury, while Robbie Mulhern will also miss the game after picking up a one-match ban for a dangerous challenge in the defeat against Huddersfield.
Castleford find themselves third on the ladder with six points and are only behind Wigan Warriors and the Giants on points difference.
The Tigers have only tasted defeat once this season when they were convincingly beaten 36-18 away against Catalans Dragons. They come into this game on the back of local derby success over Wakefield Trinity with Derrell Olpherts and James Clare both scoring twice in a 32-15 victory.
Hull KR are in a bit of trouble, even this early in the season. The only reason they are not bottom is because Toronto Wolfpack have yet to win a game. We cannot see anything over than a Tigers win in this one and we are backing them to win this by 13 or more points.
Today’s Bet of the Day: Friday, February 28
Back Leeds Rhinos to beat Warrington Wolves by 1-12 points @ 13/5 Paddy Power
Warrington Wolves have been a little bit out of sorts this season as they head into round five with two wins and two defeats under their belt.
They were impressive in their defeat against Wigan in round one despite having 12 men, while they totally outplayed defending champions St Helens in round two – keeping them scoreless.
Since then, they have not looked good. They were turned over 18-8 in a scrappy encounter away at Wakefield Trinity, while they needed a late try from Ben Murdoch-Masila to see off a spirited Toronto Wolfpack side.
They will need to be at their best if they are to take anything from their clash with Leeds Rhinos at Headingley on Friday.
The Rhinos were poor in round one as they were embarrassed on home soil against Hull FC. Since then, they have won two games on the bounce and are full of confidence.
They came back from 8-0 down to run in 22 unanswered points thanks to tries from Luke Gale, Luke Briscoe, Mikolaj Oledzki and Jack Walker as they beat Salford Red Devils 22-8 at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Leeds have boosted their squad with the two-month loan signing of Joe Greenwood from Wigan Warriors, and he is expected to make his debut on Friday. Greenwood is a strong runner and is capable of backing up breaks from the halves and chip in with a few tries.
At home, we are backing Leeds to overcome a Warrington side still searching for some consistency. The Wolves will come good in the end, but they are finding it a bit tough at the minute. We are backing Leeds to take this by 1-12 points.
Today’s Bet of the Day: Saturday, February 29
Back Toronto Wolfpack to beat St Helens @ 6/1 bet365
We are taking a massive risk this weekend, but we are backing Toronto Wolfpack to grab their first win of the season against defending champions St Helens.
Even writing this, it seems ridiculous. But there is method to the madness. St Helens were involved in a really tough, demanding game last weekend as they lost 20-12 to Sydney Roosters in the World Club Challenge. It could have taken a lot out of them.
They matched the Roosters for the majority of the game, but they panicked at the wrong times when they got close to their line. The Chooks scored four tries with Joseph Manu scoring two, while Daniel Tupou and Luke Keary also scored. Saints took the lead through Luke Thompson, but they failed to get over the line again until the dying moments through Alex Walmsley.
This will be classed as a home game for the Wolfpack, although the game will be played at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington. The newly-promoted side have failed to win a game this season and they are rooted to the foot of the Super League ladder.
They put in a strong performance against Warrington last Friday. They trailed 16-0 at one stage before hitting back and they were level at 22-22 after 56 minutes and they looked like they were going to push on get their first scalp. Two penalties from Stefan Ratchford and a converted Ben Murdoch-Masila try saw Warrington eventually get the win and take their record to two wins from four.
It’s takes a brave man to bet against the Saints, but the intensity of the World Club Challenge should not be underestimated, some players will still be carrying knocks and it will be interesting to see what side Kristian Woolf puts out. We are backing Toronto to get their first win, because it’s always difficult to back up after such an intense game.
Today’s Bet of the Day: Sunday, March 1
Back Wigan Warriors -4 to beat Huddersfield Giants @10/11 Betvictor
Wigan Warriors are looking good at the moment, and we are backing them to become the first team to beat Huddersfield Giants in Super League in 2020.
Huddersfield Giants remain the only team in Super League that has not lost a game and they entertain Wigan Warriors on Sunday, who have only lost one. The Giants have played one game less than Wigan, because their round two home game with Leeds Rhinos was postponed due to Storm Ciara. Having said that, they are still unbeaten, and they come into this game on the back of a convincing 22-4 win away at Hull Kingston Rovers.
The Giants were never in any trouble against the Robins and they managed to score four tries through Louis Senior, Lee Gaskell, Paul Clough and Suaia Matagi. Aidan Sezer was again in fine form for the Giants and he managed to kick three goals.
Wigan have lost just once this season – a narrow 16-12 defeat at Castleford Tigers – although Wigan were poor that day and could have lost by a lot more. They have since regrouped and have made it two wins in succession against Toronto Wolfpack and Hull FC.
Dom Manfredi made a try scoring return to action for the Warriors last week after being out since April with a serious knee injury. It will be interesting to see if he starts again, or whether Joe Burgess has done enough to win his place back. The Giants might be unbeaten, but there is something special about Wigan under Adrian Lam.
The partnership between Jackson Hastings, Liam Farrell and Bevan French is a joy to watch and we believe they will have to much for the Giants. It will be interesting to see who wins the battle between Sezer and Hastings – personally we will be going for the latter. We are backing Wigan with the handicap to win this one.