The Sky Cameras are at the AJ Bell Stadium for Friday night Rugby as Hull FC travel to take on Salford.
Both sides will be looking to cement their places in the top 4 after an up and down bank holiday weekend.
A defeat to Wakefield on Sunday was the 1st loss since April for Salford, whilst a win over Wigan was the 1st in 4 games for Hull.
Murray comes in for Johnson for the hosts , Watts, Fonua and Griffin come back in for Hull but Sneyd, Taylor and Ellis are still out.
Ian Watson is surely the coach of the season so far as his Salford side look likely to claim a top 4 spot going into the Super 8. Last year’s million pound game seems a long way away now and you can forgive them a loss at home to in form Wakefield last Sunday.
The win over Wigan arrested a run of 3 defeats for Hull, but the black and whites will have to play better here to have any chance against the Red Devils.
Despite the Warriors being below par they still ran in 6 tries but with all sides playing 3 times in a week we can disregard results last week.
Super League sponsors Betfred make Salford 8/13 favourites to win this, they had won their last 6 at home before Sunday with wins over the likes of Castleford,Warrington and St Helens. With FC still missing key players like Sneyd and Taylor I think Salford can get back to winning ways and win a tight game by around 6-10 points. Hull’s away form is decent with only one loss but they struggled at Widnes last time on the road and have lost at home to Leigh and been badly beaten at magic by St Helens since then.
I’m not sure 11/8 is value for the visitors given the relevant form of the 2 sides and it is worth noting both sides will have an eye on big cup ties next weekend.
FC get a 4 point start on the handicap and I’d certainly take that over the 11/8 on the cap if I was backing them as this could be quite close.
But I just feel the Red Devils can pinch it.
Bibby and Evalds head a very open 1st try market at 10/1, I’d prefer Evalds of the 2, the returning Fonua would be my pick at 12/1.
Finally the man of the match, plenty of candidates but 15/2 Albert Kelly has the x factor in black and white and he’d be my pick over 11/1 Houghton.
In the Red corner I’d go for the very popular Murdoch-Masila at 16/1 over 13/2 favourite Michael Dobson.
One other game tonight sees resurgent Widnes get a 12 point start at St Helens.
Saints looked to be back on track under new Coach Justin Holbrook but they were poor in losing to a Castleford side missing key names on Sunday.
It’s worth noting that Castleford had also played 3 times in a week whilst Saints only had to play twice.
The Vikings have now won their last 2 and the tempting 7/2 for an away win will surely appeal to their fans.
Whilst Saints are way too short at 1/5 to win this, they should get home but I think the Vikings can score enough points to stay inside the 12 point handicap.
Extra game tomorrow as Huddersfield travel to the South of France, as always please gamble responsibly.
