Connect with us

Wigan Warriors

Leigh Leopards v Wigan Warriors line-ups predicted as injuries force major changes

Wigan Warriors

Wigan Warriors travel to face Leigh Leopards tonight with injuries set to alter how both teams line up in the Battle of the Borough.

The local rivals have met twice already this season with each side winning once. Leigh’s win came on opening night of Super League as the game ended 0-0 with the Leopards winning it 1-0 in golden point thanks to a Gaz O’Brien drop goal.

It was a game of play-off intensity and heading into Round 17, it’s no surprise to see that these sides are well in the play-off picture with the hosts sitting fourth and Wigan sitting second in Super League.

The second meeting saw Wigan win 36-28 but Leigh kept bringing them back to make it a contest and with the Warriors going through a sticky patch of form, at least in terms of performance, then perhaps Leigh can strike.

Leigh’s issue would be that injuries have hit them hard this past week with three key men expected to miss out. We’ve looked at how both sides could line up for the third Battle of the Borough in 2025.

Predicted Leigh Leopards line-up

Darnell McIntosh and Robbie Mulhern are confirmed to be missing this game with the winger and prop set for spells on the sideline. There’s also concerns around full-back David Armstrong who has been battling hamstring issues all season.

Adrian Lam confirmed that McIntosh had suffered an MCL tear which will rule him out for at least one month whilst Mulhern is out for at least six weeks with a pec tear.

Josh Charnley is the obvious replacement for McIntosh whilst Owen Trout will likely return to prop to replace Mulhern, however, other questions remain at full-back.

The scans on David Armstrong’s hamstring hadn’t returned when Adrian Lam addressed the media but he explained that the signs are that it “isn’t good and could be long-term”, meaning Bailey Hodgson is likely to resume that role.

Predicted Leigh Leopards XIII: Bailey Hodgson; Keanan Brand, Umyla Hanley, Tesi Niu, Josh Charnley; Gaz O’Brien, Lachlan Lam; Joe Ofahengaue, Edwin Ipape, Owen Trout; Ethan O’Neill, Frankie Halton, Isaa Liu

Interchanges: Ben McNamara, Matt Davis, Jack Hughes, Alec Tuitavake

Predicted Wigan Warriors line-up

Bevan French is out long-term but in Jack Farrimond, Wigan have got a very strong replacement and he’ll partner Harry Smith once again.

Wingers Abbas Miski and Liam Marshall could both play for the first time in months with Miski returning to the squad, whilst Peet confirmed Marshall should be fine to play after pulling out in the warm-up last week.

Zach Eckersley could be named on the bench as cover should either man have an issue although that would mean Tyler Dupree could miss out and serve as 18th man.

Predicted Wigan Warriors XIII: Jai Field; Abbas Miski, Adam Keighran, Jake Wardle, Liam Marshall; Jack Farrimond, Harry Smith; Luke Thompson, Brad O’Neill, Ethan Havard; Junior Nsemba, Liam Farrell, Kaide Ellis

Interchanges: Kruise Leeming, Patrick Mago, Liam Byrne, Zach Eckersley

Related Topics
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Must See

More in Wigan Warriors