Warrington Wolves vs Salford Red Devils Predictions: Williams to lead Wembley bounceback

Warrington Wolves look to resurrect their impressive season so far with a home tie against Salford Red Devils on Friday (kick-off 20:00 BST, live on Sky Sports Action) following their underwhelming Betfred Challenge Cup final defeat to Wigan Warriors at Wembley.

The Wolves were comfortably second best against the dominant Warriors but have an immediate opportunity to respond against a Red Devils side that has blown hot and cold so far this year under Paul Rowley. Here are my Warrington Wolves vs Salford Red Devils predictions.

Warrington Wolves vs Salford Red Devils Odds

The Wire are heavy favourites for this one, priced at 1/4. Their visitors are available at 16/5, implying a 23.8% probability, while you can get 20/1 for a draw in the 80 minutes of regular time.

Team News

Warrington suffered a double injury blow at Wembley with the loss of two key players, both of whom will be out this weekend. Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Jordy Crowther both hobbled out of the big game at Wembley and boss Sam Burgess has confirmed neither will be fit to return for the next couple of weeks.

Fitzgibbon was ruled out at half-time after aggravating a prior back injury, and Crowther lasted little longer before succumbing to an ankle issue.

Adam Holroyd will return to the side to replace Fitzgibbon in the back row, while Max Wood and Tom Whitehead will fight it out for Crowther’s spot in the pack. The two men added to the squad from last week are youngsters Arron Lindop and Tom Whitehead.

Salford are still without their star full-back Ryan Brierley, who has a painful shoulder injury. Half-back Cade Cust is also absent once again, as are props Jack Ormondroyd and Adam Sidlow. Gil Dudson is eligible to play despite his loan to Salford from Warrington.

Australian forward Loghan Lewis is named in the Red Devils squad and could be in line for a debut, as could Harvey Wilson who signed from Wigan last month.

Handicap 3-way Alternative 1: Warrington Wolves -8 @ 4/6

This is a tricky tie for Warrington so soon after last week’s crushing disappointment of Wembley. The Wolves were unable to produce their stellar form of the season so far and were comprehensively beaten by a dominant Wigan on the big stage. So can Sam Burgess pick his troops straight back up?

Salford have won the last two meetings between these two sides, including the fixture at Salford earlier this year backed in this column. Many will fancy that this is another really good opportunity for the Red Devils to spring an upset, but it has been an unsettling week for the club with the departure of Ian Blease to become the new Sporting Director at Leeds Rhinos.

Paul Rowley usually rallies his troops at times like these and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Salford performance here, but they are just so indifferent on the road in 2024 I could not back the Red Devils with any confidence. My instinct is that Warrington will emerge stronger for their Wembley humbling and this is a great chance to get back to winning ways.

I am sticking with a home win here and am backing Warrington by a couple of scores.

George Williams anytime tryscorer @ 7/4

Captain George Williams was well shackled at Wembley but has a good record against Salford whom he has scored tries against in each of their last four meetings – including the reverse fixture at Salford as backed in this column.

It will be a special day for the half-back too, with Williams set to make his 300th career appearance and it would be just like him to mark that with a try.

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