Preview: Catalans Dragons vs Leigh Leopards – prediction, team news, lineups

Catalans Dragons will be looking to end their woeful run of form when they welcome the Leigh Leopards to Perpignan this Saturday evening.

The Dragons head into the weekend on the back of their heaviest ever Super League defeat, while the Leopards are looking to boost their playoff hopes with a third straight win.

Match preview

Catalans Dragons are in the midst of their biggest crisis since joining Super League in 2006, with the club not only losing six matches in a row but also falling to their biggest ever defeat last Friday.

Super League leaders Hull KR tore their French rivals to shreds at Craven Park, winning 68-6. In fact, the only positive for the Dragons was ending their three-match scoreless run.

The loss of form experienced by the Dragons has been extraordinary, with the Perpignan outfit winning seven of eight matches before the start of their ongoing six-match drought.

Interim boss Joel Tomkins blamed the lack of effort for the recent downfall, but turning things around against a playoff chasing Leigh Leopards will not be easy.

While the Catalans are in freefall, the Leopards are on a two-match winning run after coming up trumps in a couple of thrilling games.

Adrian Lam’s side avoided a Huddersfield Giants fightback and beat the Yorkshire side 28-24 before scoring a late winner against Wakefield Trinity in a 24-20 success last weekend.

Leigh head into the weekend inside the top six, and they will be looking to strengthen their playoff position with a third straight Super League win.

The Leopards will certainly fancy their chances considering they have beaten the Dragons in four straight meetings – including a 26-24 win at the start of May.

Catalans Dragons form: LLLLL

Leigh Leopards form: WWLLL

Team News

Catalans will be without captain Benjamin Garcia, who is serving a four-match suspension for last weekend’s punch-up at Hull KR.

Reimis Smith drops out of the squad after picking up a head injury in training, and he will be joined on the absentee list by Tariq Sims and Theo Fages.

Replacing the quartet in the 21-man squad are Paul Seguier, Jordan Dezaria, Fouad Yaha and Clement Martin.

Catalans are still without Elliott Whitehead, which means Arthur Romano is likely to continue in second-row.

Leigh have been handed a boost with the return of Ethan O’Neill to the 21-man squad. Josh Charnley has also been included and could start after being used as the 18th man against Wakefield last weekend.

Aaron Pene and Louis Brogan are still out of action, but they are the only two absentees for Lam.

Catalans Dragons predicted lineup: Mourgue, Davies, Romano, Ikuvalu, Yaha, Tomkins, Keary, Bousquet, Costa, Satae, Seguier, Sironen, Goudemand; Rouge, Dezaria, Navarrete, Partington

Leigh Leopards predicted lineup: Armstrong, Charnley, Hardaker, Leutele, Briscoe, O’Brien, Lam, Amone, Ipape, Mulhern, O’Donnell, Halton, Asiata; McNamara, Hughes, Ofahengaue, Trout

We say: Catalans Dragons 12-26 Leigh Leopards

While it would be quite the achievement for the Catalans to be worse than they were last week, we are not expecting the hosts to end their losing run.

Leigh have found a bit of momentum with their run of successive wins, and we are backing them to pick up another big result away in France.

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