Widnes 9/1 to reach the 1/4 finals of the Challenge Cup

The marathon 4 days of live cup rugby concludes at the HJ on Sunday as Warrington entertain Widnes.

Wire have all their England contingent back and all 3 will be looking to back up good performances for their country last week against Samoa.

Widnes get an 18 point start on the handicap and they’ll need them all after losing a 20 point lead against Hull FC last week after a very tired 2nd half display.

Warrington have hit a decent run of results and have now won 5 of their last 6 so it’s no surprise that they concede an 18 point start on the handicap. It was 14 at the start of the week but the news of injuries in the Vikings camp has seen the line go up to -18.

It is though worth noting that Wire have only won once by more than the handicap this year and that was against St Helens last week.

Widnes have lost 5 of their last 6 and look destined for a spot in the middle 8, there is tries in the Vikings side though so you can see them maybe just staying inside a big 3 score handicap.

It’d be a brave person though that put faith in the Chemics, I can’t see a shock but if you have more money than sense you can get up to 8/1 for a Widnes win.

Wire are unbackable at 1/10 to win this, you can boost this to 4/9 on the Half Time Full Time but you have to think they’ll book a 1/4 final spot with a home win by around 11-15 points.

Warrington won the league meeting between these 2, at the Select Security Stadium,  last month by 9 points in a low scoring game but I can see a much more open game this time.

I certainly think this one could have a total points line over 50, especially if Wire were to win comfortably.

Lineham and Russell head 1st try lists at 8 and 9/1 but Ratchford may offer better value at 12/1. Patrick Ah Van could reward Vikings backers at 14/1 for the 1st try.

Finally the man of the match, always a wide open market when Wire play and with the BBC usually favouring the halves I’d just prefer Kevin Brown over Kurt Gidley and Patton

If the Vikings are to pull off a shock you’d have to look to Joe Mellor.

In the days other games Leeds will surely beat Barrow by more than the 40 point handicap and with players back you’d expect Wigan to win by more than 28 points at Swinton.

Anyone looking for a cup shock can get 50/1 for a Barrow win and 25/1 for a Swinton win if they shop around.

Super League goes to Newcastle for the magic weekend next week, as always please gamble responsibly.