Huddersfield Giants vs Leigh Leopards Predictions: Hanley and Leopards to extend hot streak?

Huddersfield Giants have an immediate chance to banish the pain of a thumping Betfred Challenge Cup semi-final defeat when they host a Leigh Leopards side buoyed by a new deal for their head coach Adrian Lam (Friday, kick-off 20:00 BST, live on Sky Sports Arena).

Leigh have had a fortnight off since their seven-try local derby win over Salford Red Devils while the Giants have to regroup quickly following their crushing 46-10 loss to Warrington in the cup. Here are my Huddersfield Giants vs Leigh Leopards predictions ahead of the Round 12 Betfred Super League clash.

Team News

Huddersfield’s headline news is the absence once more of their top tryscorer and talisman Adam Swift through a groin injury that now looks set to keep him sidelined for some considerable time. The flying winger played against Warrington in the cup defeat and justified backers and followers of this column with yet another try, albeit in defeat. The less said about the punt on his side to win the match the better.

Boss Ian Watson says the Swift injury “is not looking great” and fears it could be an extended period on the sidelines.

Better news for Watson sees the return to the squad of veteran England prop Chris Hill and Tom Deakin. Hill has been back training with the squad and Watson says he has “an opportunity to play”.

Leigh have a strong squad out, boosted by the return to fitness of Gareth O’Brien and Dan Norman. There is a feel-good factor after boss Lam signed a new three-year contract, while prop Tom Amone is set to play despite stories emerging this week that he has agreed to move to the NRL with Canterbury Bulldogs next season.

Handicap 3-way Leigh Leopards -6 @ 2/1

Huddersfield stunned Leigh in round one and will take huge heart from that, but in truth the two sides appear to have travelled in different directions since. Leigh have been getting their injured stars back on the pitch and that has translated into results – three wins on the spin – Huddersfield have suffered a very painful run of four straight defeats culminating in that wounding Warrington cup loss.

The Giants may be well backed on home soil in a tight contest, but I feel they are a different beast without their 11-try top scorer Swift, and they have also still to win at the John Smith's Stadium in four attempts in 2024. We backed Huddersfield for a big shock against Sam Burgess and Co. last week and they were way off, so I will not be making that mistake again.

Leigh currently lie three points behind their rivals in the table but they can win this to close the gap.

Umyla Hanley anytime tryscorer @ 5/4

Leigh’s wingers usually do well in this fixture, with Josh Charnley having crossed five times in the last three games between these two sides. Charnley is 4/5 to add another one here, but I’m going to look at the other wing for a little more value where Umyla Hanley is 5/4 to score a try during 80 minutes, with an implied probability of 44.4%.

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