Salford Red Devils vs Leigh Leopards Prediction: Hosts expected to avoid another defeat

Salford Red Devils will host Leigh Leopards at the Salford Community Stadium on Saturday evening, as both teams aim to deliver another thrilling Rivals Round encounter. Going into this match, the hosts have suffered consecutive defeats, whereas the visiting team comes in with back-to-back wins.

Salford Red Devils suffered their second consecutive loss, this time a disappointing 40-2 defeat to Hull KR in the Challenge Cup. However, their initial loss was against Wigan Warriors in a 12-22 league encounter. Before these defeats, Salford Red Devils had secured consecutive wins over Castleford, Hull KR, and St Helens in league matches. Ahead of their upcoming game, Salford Red Devils have made one change to their squad due to big prop Gil Dudson being injured after just joining the club on loan from Warrington Wolves. Youngster Kai Morgan takes his place, while vice-captain Ryan Brierley is included despite suffering an injury during the previous cup defeat against Hull KR.

Last weekend in the Challenge Cup, Leigh Leopards capitalized on their opportunities and secured a 26-14 victory. Following this win, Leigh Leopards have now triumphed in consecutive matches, with another notable victory being against Hull FC in a 4-54 league encounter. However, examining Leigh Leopards' season matchups reveals a mixed record of three wins and three losses in six games. Their defeats came at the hands of Huddersfield, St Helens, and Leeds, with one additional match resulting in a 12-28 win on the road. Looking ahead to their upcoming game, Leigh Leopards welcomed back Lachlan Lam over the weekend, and their performance notably improved during the 20 minutes that their playmaker was on the pitch. It's anticipated that Lam will start in this game, while full-back Gareth O’Brien is included despite missing out against Featherstone last weekend. The Leopards continue to be without key forwards John Asiata and Tom Amone due to injury, while the absence of veteran winger Tom Briscoe has provided an opportunity for Umyla Hanley to excel and become a prolific try-scorer in his absence.

Given that the last two matches between these two sides were decided by a mere two points, this upcoming game could indeed be closely contested. Despite that, I am inclined to support Salford to rebound from what was a thoroughly disappointing cup defeat for Paul Rowley's team.