Glasgow Warriors vs Sale Sharks Prediction: Warriors to put Sharks to the sword

Scotstoun gets its first taste of European Champions Cup action on Saturday night as Glasgow Warriors host Sale Sharks (20:00, Premier Sports 2).

Alex Jack provides his best bets for Glasgow Warriors vs Sale Sharks as well as all the important team news and match odds.

Team news

After a successful Autumn Nations Series that was capped off with a win over Australia, a host of Scotland internationals return to Glasgow’s starting XV.

Zander Fagerson and Jamie Bhatti join hooker Gregor Hiddleston in the front-row, with Jare Oguntibeju and Scott Cummings in the engine room.

Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge and Henco Venter complete the pack, while George Horne and Tom Jordan start in the half-backs.

Scotland duo Sione Tuipuloti and Huw Jones reunited in the centres, while there’s a back-three of Kyle Rowe, Sebastian Cancelliere and Josh McKay.

As for Sale, big names such as George Ford, Ben Curry, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Tom Roebuck have all been rested, with Sam Bedlow, Tadgh McElroy, Will Addison and Jean-Luc du Preez coming into the starting XV.

Bevan Rodd, McElroy and Asher Opoku-Fordjour start in the front-row, with locks Ernst van Rhyn and Hyron Andrews in behind.

JL du Preez, Tom Curry and Dan du Preez start in the back-row, with half-backs Gus Warr and Rob du Preez starting from the off.

Bedlow and Luke James form the centres, while the back-three comprises of Addison, Aaron Reed and Joe Carpenter.

England’s Jonny Hill is back in the matchday squad, but he will have to make an impact from off the bench in the Sharks’ back-row.

Glasgow Warriors vs Sale Sharks Odds

Glasgow Warriors are firm favourites at 2/9 to make a winning start to their Champions Cup campaign, while Sale Sharks are 18/5 to head back over the border with the victory.

A draw is available at 20/1, while Glasgow to overcome a -6.5 handicap by the half-time whistle is currently 11/10.

Glasgow Warriors -14 handicap @ 11/8 

With Sale missing some key players for the trip up the M6, there does on paper seem to be a difference in class between these two teams.

This Glasgow side has arguably four or more players who will be pushing for places in the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia next year.

There does seem to be a mismatch in the centres particularly, with Tuipulotu and Jones going up against Bedlow and James.

With Jordan enjoying a strong Autumn Nations Series with Scotland, he will be looking to kick on and show what he can do back in the No.10 jersey for the Warriors.

Backed by the Scotstoun faithful, it’s hard to look past Glasgow not only making a winning start to this competition against the Sharks, but falling on the right side of the -14 handicap while they’re at it.

Rugby Union Betting Tips from Betfred Insights.