Saints have been notoriously inconsistent this season – having failed to record a winning run longer than two games – while Hull have shown their quality on many occasions but can be streaky in terms of results.
Both sides come into this game on the back of defeats. St. Helens were narrowly beaten at Leeds while Hull fought back bravely but were still edged out by league leaders Castleford. Both sides will fancy their chances in this fixture if they’re at their best.
The Saints are without a couple of key players. Matty Smith is out indefinitely having had surgery on a horrible looking eye injury, while Jon Wilkin is suspended. Their 19-man squad sees Danny Richardson and Matty Lees come in – while Mark Percival returns from suspension.
Hull have named the same squad as last week, and they will hope to break a trend from this season when they have gone on to lose a couple of games following an initial setback. Performance wise last week they were excellent for large parts of the game despite coming up short.
Saints are the favourites but only very slightly. One or two bookies find the two sides hard to separate – meaning St. Helens are best priced 10/11. Hull are available at 11/10. If both sides play to their best we’d fancy the visitors, and would take that price. Some bookies have given Hull a two-point start at 10/11.
When Hull win they tend to put a big margin between themselves and their opponents while Saints have been renowned for pretty tight wins in big games this season.
If you like your winning margin bets, two to consider are: St. Helens by 6-10 points at 11/2 or Hull FC by 11-15 points at 10/1.
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