Preview: St Helens vs Leeds Rhinos – prediction, team news, lineups

The Totally Wicked Stadium plays host to a classic Super League fixture this Friday night as St Helens take on Leeds Rhinos.

While Saints are jostling for position inside the top six, the Rhinos will be hoping to bag their sixth straight victory as their pursuit of the top two continues.

Match preview

St Helens lived up to their favourites tag last Sunday as they put nine tries past the Salford Red Devils in an impressive 46-4 victory, which strengthened their position in the top six.

Former NRL winger Kyle Feldt was the star of the show as the 33-year-old scored four tries in his first game back from a nasty hand injury.

Paul Wellens and his men have now won three of their last four matches in the Super League, with their sole defeat during this run coming against the indomitable league leaders Hull KR.

All three of those victories came in dominant fashion, with Saints scoring a total of 152 points and conceding just eight – arguably their best run of form this season.

Things are beginning to click for St Helens and their upturn in form has certainly come at a good time, with four of their next five opponents being potential playoff rivals – starting with Leeds Rhinos on Friday night.

Speaking of the Yorkshire outfit, the Rhinos are absolutely flying in Super League, winning seven of their last eight in the competition.

Brad Arthur’s men comfortably dispatched Challenge Cup finalists Warrington Wolves last Saturday, scoring six tries in a 36-12 victory. Leeds not only extended their winning run to five straight games, but they also continued to keep pace with the current top two in the league – Wigan Warriors and Hull KR.

As things stand, the Rhinos trail second-placed Wigan by four points and the current leaders by six, though with 13 regular season matches remaining, there is still a long way to go.

Looking ahead to Friday, Leeds will take confidence from the fact they beat St Helens 17-4 during May’s Magic Weekend. That was their first victory over Saints in seven attempts and just their second head-to-head win in 20.

The Rhinos can also take confidence from their recent away form, which has seen them bag three straight victories on the road, including a 28-0 whitewash of Salford and a 29-6 demolition of local rivals Castleford Tigers.

St Helens form: WLWWL

Leeds Rhinos form: WWWWW

Team News

St Helens have been dealt a major injury blow ahead of Friday’s fixture, with Joe Batchelor and George Whitby joining a growing list of players on the sidelines.

Wellens will be particularly concerned with Batchelor, who made his return to the squad last week after a two-month spell on the sidelines with a hamstring problem.

Saints have named Will Roberts and Jake Davies in their 21-man squad, with the duo returning from Swinton Lions. Curtis Sironen has also been named in the squad despite picking up an injury against Salford last week and being forced off the field.

Leeds, on the other hand, have made just one change to their squad, with Australian centre Ethan Clark-Wood replacing Alfie Edgell.

Rhinos co-captain Cameron Smith features and is expected to make a landmark 150th Super League appearance.

St Helens predicted lineup: Sailor, Feldt, Cross, Bennison, Burns, Lomax, Roberts, Walmsley, Clark, Lees, Sironen, Whitley, Knowles; Mbye, Paasi, Delaney, Wingfield

Leeds Rhinos predicted lineup: Miller, Hall, Newman, Handley, Lumb, Croft, Frawley, Oledzki, Ackers, Palasia, Bentley, McDonnell, Smith; O’Connor, Lisone, Watkins, Holroyd

We say: St Helens 16-24 Leeds Rhinos

St Helens boast a sterling head-to-head record against Leeds, but it is fair to say that this is a far stronger Rhinos side to the one they faced in recent years.

Arthur has turned Leeds into serious title contenders, and we are expecting the visitors to continue their impressive form with a win over Saints.

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