Salford Red Devils vs Leeds Rhinos Prediction: Lafai to land a blow on visitors

Salford Red Devils have finally been given the green light for their takeover and can therefore pick from a full squad for the opening home match of the Betfred Super League season against Leeds Rhinos on Saturday (15:00).

Here are my Salford Red Devils vs Leeds Rhinos predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

The Red Devils courted controversy last week by fielding their reserve team in the season opener at St Helens, going down to the competition's heaviest-ever defeat (82-0).

Sanctions have finally been lifted, meaning we should be in for a cracker at the Salford Community Stadium, between two sides who expect to be in the play-off mix at the end of the campaign.

The Red Devils squad features the likes of Nene Macdonald and Kallum Watkins - both former Leeds stars, while French prop Justin Sangare made the move for Headingley for this season.

Chris Hill is set to make his club debut after joining from Huddersfield, with only three players - Kai Morgan, Joe Bullock and Tiaki Chan - keeping their place from last week's shambles at Saints.

Rugby League Odds

With Salford at full strength, Leeds boss Brad Arthur makes just one change to his 21-man squad, with prop Mikolaj Oledzki ruled out after failing a head injury assessment in last weekend's surprise home defeat by newly-promoted Wakefield.

His place in the squad goes to teenager Jack Smith, with Jack Sinfield still absent with the injury he picked up in the Challenge Cup earlier this month. Still sidelined are the likes of Lachie Miller, Maiko Sivo, Ben Littlewood, Max Simpson and Ned and Fergus McCormack.

Salford Red Devils vs Leeds Rhinos Odds

Salford are 4/7 to win on Saturday, implying a 63.6% probability, while Leeds are 6/4 to claim a victory, and the draw is priced at 18/1.

Leeds to score the game's first two tries has been boosted by Betfred from 3/1 to 100/30.

Handicap 3-way - Salford Red Devils -4 @ 20/21

As a Leeds boy, backing the Rhinos is not an enjoyable hobby. I fancied a strong Leeds start to the season last weekend and Arthur's men were humbled at home by the Super League's new boys.

This week I don't fancy Leeds at all, so they will probably win. Joking aside, I always feel that a Salford side with a siege mentality is a dangerous beast. Paul Rowley had protected his players by taking the flak full on his shoulders for sending an under-strength team to Saints last week when notified by the RFL that salary cap restrictions would remain in place pending ratification of their takeover.

This week then, back in front of a home crowd, and with an angry squad of talent to choose from, I sense the Red Devils will roar. Make no mistake, Leeds will be bruised too given their loss to Trinity, so this could be the game of the weekend.

Last season saw one win a piece by a similar scoreline, Salford 22-16 winners at home and Leeds winning 22-16 at Headingley. The year before that at Salford there were only two points in it, so these games tend to be tight.

I'm sticking on a home win by a score or two, inflicting two straight defeats on Leeds at the start of 2025.

Tim Lafai anytime try scorer @ 7/4

It could be a special day for Salford playmaker Marc Sneyd who needs just seven points to reach 2500 for his career. He could well get those points this weekend but I would expect all of them to come from the kicking tee.

The try threat comes out wide, with Nene Macdonald, Ryan Hall and Ash Handley the pick of the bunch. I like Handley and Hall for Leeds at 5/4, but one of the most entertaining players on the pitch starts at even better odds.

Tim Lafai has become as much a try creator as try scorer given the centre's love for an offload. But 7/4 is enough to tempt me to back the Samoan flyer to give the home fans something to shout about.

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