Super League sponsors Betfred make England 1/2 favourites to beat Samoa in tomorrow mornings friendly International .
Much has been made of the selections from coach Wayne Bennett but it seems the bookies have more faith and think the Lions will get the job done .
England concede a 6 point start on the handicap and whilst I think they may just get home , surely the value lies with Samoa getting a 6 point start . The Samoans are 7/4 to win the game , but whilst some of the England side have had a long trip down under the key players all play in the NRL .
It should be a tight entertaining game that could go over the 39.5 total points line , but I think England could scrape home by around 1-5 points but it really could go either way .
Hall heads the 1st try market at around 8/1 , but Hardaker at 14/1 could be where the value lies as it does with Antonio Wilderstein at 10/1.
Extra game on Sky on Saturday as Leeds travel to Catalans .
The French side are 1/2 to win the game , mainly due to Hall and Watkins being in Australia , and whilst this will have an effect the Dragons have been poor lately and it wouldn’t surprised me if Leeds landed odds of 13/8 to win the game . Whilst the Dragons are usually very reliable at home they have only won one of their last 4 in Perpignan .
Safer ploy maybe to take the Rhinos getting a 6 point start on the handicap, it’s 2011 since Leeds last lost a regular season game by more than 6 games in France ,but it wouldn’t surprise me if Leeds come away from the South of France with the 2 points .
Yaha is a worthy 10/1 favourite to score the 1st try , but Gigot maybe offers better value at 12/1 . Tom Briscoe would be my pick at 12/1 for the Rhinos .
One other game Saturday sees Wakefield marginal 8/13 favourites to beat 11/8 Leigh . The Centurions are starting to find Super League very tough , and you have to fancy Trinity to come away with the 2 points . It was in a close defeat at Wakefield in March when things started to go wrong for Leigh , but in what could be a close game the 4 point start they get on the handicap could be about right .
Leigh have lost their last 6 games and sit 6 points behind Saturdays opponents , and whilst Tom Johnstone will be a big miss I still think Wakefield can win a high scoring encounter .
Bumper week of Challenge Cup action next week , as always please gamble responsibly .