Another (albeit slightly truncated as the Fantasy Rugby Geek is out of the country on “day job duties”) of our weekly pre-match updates where we analyse the weekend’s lineups, crunch the stats and see what the bookies are thinking to help you optimise your lineups for peak performance this weekend!
Potential mismatches
Round 7 offers up what the bookies consider to be the biggest mismatch thus fair, namely Saracens hosting the struggling London Irish at Allianz Park. The bookies have given Sarries a winning margin of 24 points. Maro and co will be expected to have a field day.
Elsewhere, in the eyes of the bookies, Quins will be expected to comfortably dispatch Worcester at The Stoop after what has been two disappointing weekends in Europe and Bath are also expected to pile on more away day misery for Gloucester.
In Paddy Power’s eyes the most nailed on games this weekend with a projected winning margin greater than 10 is…
- Saracens to beat London Irish with a margin of 24 points
- Harlequins to beat Worcester with a margin of 12 points
- Bath to beat Gloucester with a margin of 12 points
Elsewhere, Northampton are expected to narrowly squeeze past Wasps at home and Exeter are tipped to narrowly squeeze past Sale at the AJ Bell. Meanwhile two form teams, Leicester and Newcastle square up in a match that looks to be too close to call.
Expected to go well
*Players who are starting favourably out of position (i.e. Hooker in back row, Centre on wing, etc.)
Recommended captain pick in bold
FRONT ROW
Alex Waller (Northampton)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Vincent Koch (Saracens)
Ashley Johnson (Wasps)
Jamie George (Saracens)
LOCKS
Courtney Lawes (Northampton)
Don Armand* (Exeter)
Calum Green (Newcastle)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
James Horwill (Harlequins)
BACK ROW
Jackson Wray (Saracens)
Zach Mercer (Bath)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter)
Taulupe Faletau (Bath)
Tom Wood (Northampton)
Will Evans (Leicester)
SCRUM-HALF
Ben Spencer (Saracens)
Nic Groom (Northampton)
Nic White (Exeter)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Willi Heinz (Gloucester)
FLY HALF
George Ford (Leicester)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
Henry Slade* (Exeter)
CENTRES
Jonathan Joseph (Bath)
Max Clark (Bath)
Henry Trinder (Gloucester)
Byron McGuigan (Sale)
OUTSIDE BACKS
Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Jonny May (Leicester)
James Short (Exeter)
Denny Solomona (Sale)
Tim Visser (Harlequins)
Telusa Veianu (Leicester)
Liam Williams (Saracens)
If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all this year’s Aviva Premiership fantasy games, all the stats sources, injury news, team news, fantasy relevant rugby betting odds and tons of other useful information.
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