Another 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 5 kicks off with a three match Friday night bonanza, and with it two match-ups between top form sides against two stragglers; the imperious Saracens take on a Worcester side in disarray, while the surprise package (to some…), Newcastle, welcome a London Irish side, for whom the ecstasy of a convincing win at HQ against Quins in Round 1 is all but a distant memory.
Unsurprisingly, in the eyes of the bookies, these two games present the two most likely convincing wins. In fact, they are the only two matches with teams being given more than a 10 point advantage, whilst elsewhere there are expected to be four very competitive affairs.
In Paddy Power’s eyes the most nailed on games this weekend with a projected winning margin greater than 10 is…
- Saracens to beat Worcester with a margin of 16 points
- Newcastle to beat London Irish with a margin of 13 points
Top 5 most likely to score (Odds via Paddy Power)
- 1 Chris Wyles (Saracens) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.57
- 2 Vereniki Goneva (Newcastle) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.66
- 3 Sean Maitland (Saracens) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.72
- 4 George North (Northampton) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.8
- 5= DTH Van Der Merwe (Newcastle) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.83
- 5= Christian Wade (Wasps) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.83
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
Schalk Brits (Saracens)
Alex Waller (Northampton)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
Santiago Socino (Newcastle)
Vincent Koch (Saracens)
LOCKS
Don Armand* (Exeter)
Maro Itoje* (Saracens)
Courtney Lawes* (Northampton)
Jeremy Thrush (Gloucester)
Ed Slater (Gloucester)
Calum Green (Newcastle)
BACK ROW
Nili Latu (Newcastle)
Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
Thomas Young (Wasps)
Ruan Ackermann (Gloucester)
Jackson Wray (Saracens)
SCRUM-HALF
Ben Spencer (Saracens)
Sonatane Takalua (Newcastle)
Nic Groom (Northampton)
FLY HALF
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Henry Slade* (Exeter)
AJ McGinty (Sale)
CENTRES
Chris Harris (Newcastle)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath)
Duncan Taylor (Saracens)
Juan Pablo Socino (Newcastle)
OUTSIDE BACKS
Chris Wyles (Saracens)
DTH Van Der Merwe (Newcastle)
Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath)
Vereniki Goneva (Newcastle)
Sean Maitland (Saracens)
Denny Solomona (Sale)
Under-the-radar pick
Chris Harris – Newcastle Falcons have started the season on fire and a key contributor to this success is the ex-Rotherham man Chris Harris, who is proving himself to be an outstanding all-rounder. In the first 4 games he has contributed a try, 3 clean breaks, 4 defenders beaten, 130 metres gained and averaging over 10 tackles per game. He is generally available to be picked up on the Fantasy Rugby Draft waiver wire, so don’t sleep and pick up this midfield bargain!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GvUXIgEFyo
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.