St Helens v Wigan: Rod Studd's tip for Friday night's rugby league showdown

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Arena, 7.45pm Friday

Best bet

St Helens -6
4pts Evs Betway

St Helens v Wigan match preview

St Helens have spent time on Snowdon as part of their playoff preparations but the stats suggest it's their rivals who have a mountain to climb if they are to stop Saints winning the Betfred Super League Grand Final for the sixth time.

Justin Holbrook’s outstanding side finished a record-breaking 16 points clear of the field and no team has ever won at Old Trafford having finished more than 13 points adrift of the table toppers.

Defeat in the Coral Challenge Cup final by Warrington and a loss to the Wolves in last year's playoff semi-finals gives the doubters ammunition and Saints can be backed at 8-11 to hand Holbrook the perfect leaving present before he heads home to Australia to take the reins at Gold Coast Titans.

Wigan are 2-1 to retain their title and whatever the outcome of their trip to the Totally Wicked Stadium, it’s odds-on the Saints and Warriors will clash again at the Theatre of Dreams in a fortnight.

Friday's losers will host the winners of Thursday's Salford v Castleford clash, while the winners will book their tickets for the Super League showpiece.

Saints go off 4-9 to complete a perfect home season and are asked to concede a converted try on the handicap.

They should be rested and refreshed after a week off and look set to be at full strength, though young hooker Aaron Smith has been named in the squad as cover for James Roby.

Wigan boss Adrian Lam has sprung a surprise by listing Sam Powell, who was feared to have suffered a season-ending wrist injury in last weekend's success over Salford.

The visitors have won 13 of their last 14 outings and will have plenty of supporters at 5-2 but they had won five on the trot when they last visited their neighbours in July.

That night the Warriors were eight-point underdogs and were swatted aside as Saints eased to a 32-10 victory in similar style to their 36-10 success at the DW Stadium on Good Friday.

The closest Wigan have come to testing St Helens was on the season's opening night when the Cherry and Whites lost 22-12 having been level at 12-12 at half-time. A three-match aggregate score of 90-32 doesn't bode well for the underdogs.

St Helens wingers Regan Grace and Tommy Makinson notched seven tries between them in those meetings and go off as 10-1 joint favourites to bag the opener.

This season's form suggests Saints are a decent bet to concede a six-point start and a victory by more than a dozen points can be considered at 13-8.

This playoff format was previously used between 1998 and 2001 and with the losers guaranteed another chance, the winning margins were 13, 36, 38 and six points.

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