Castleford Tigers vs Leeds Rhinos: Kick-off time, TV channel and predicted line-ups

Always a big derby, the plight of the two teams and the strain of playing two games in just a few days makes this all the more important.

The Tigers come into the game full of confidence after beating Wakefield on Thursday to move outside of the bottom three for the first time in weeks.

Meanwhile, their big city rivals Leeds still languish in 11th after they threw away one point against Huddersfield despite leading 20-10 with 150 seconds left.

Kick-off time and TV channel

The game kicks off at 15:00.

TV coverage starts at 14:30 on Sky Sports Arena.

Predicted Line-ups

Castleford Tigers
The Tigers are without Greg Eden following the win over Wakefield so we may see highly rated youngster Jason Qareqare play who has recently been linked with a move to Leeds. The alternative is James Clare on the left wing. The Tigers are boosted by the return of Cheyse Blair who will give some strength to their backrow.

1 Niall Evalds
2 Derrell Olpherts
4 Jake Mamo
17 Mahe Fonua
33 Jason Qareqare
6 Jake Trueman
31 Gareth O’Brien
15 George Griffin
9 Paul McShane
22 Daniel Smith
11 Kenny Edwards
12 Adam Milner
13 Joe Westerman
Substitutes
8 Liam Watts
14 Nathan Massey
19 Tyla Hepi
25 Suaia Matagi

Leeds Rhinos
Jamie Jones-Buchanan’s big conundrum is solving what to do in the spine with Aidan Sezer, Richie Myler and Jack Walker all unavailable leaving holes at fullback and seven. This will likely see Liam Sutcliffe move to fullback and Kruise Leeming shift to seven unless Buchanan makes the bold move of playing 17-year-old Jack Sinfield at scrum-half who has caught the eye for the Rhinos reserves and under 18s especially in the latter’s dramatic win over Wigan recently. It may be too much to start Sinfield, but he could figure on the bench. There’s also a question over the wing with Liam Tindall out with a hip injury. This could see Jack Broadbent return to the side or lightning quick youngster Max Simpson may feature after he, like Sinfield, was talked up by Buchanan ahead of the game. If Simpson features, he – a natural centre – may swap with Tom Briscoe down the Rhinos’ right.

4 Liam Sutcliffe
28 Max Simpson
20 Tom Briscoe
15 Alex Mellor
5 Ash Handley
6 Blake Austin
9 Kruise Leeming
8 Mikolaj Oledzki
14 Brad Dwyer
10 Matt Prior
11 James Bentley
12 Rhyse Martin
17 Cameron Smith
Substitutes
13 Zane Tetevano
21 Morgan Gannon
25 James Donaldson
32 Jack Sinfield