Castleford Tigers vs Salford Red Devils Prediction: Salford to give Cas a run for their money

Crisis club Salford Red Devils are on the road for their next scheduled Betfred Super League fixture, and who knows what the squad or mindset will be when they take to the field against Castleford Tigers at the Mend-A-Hose Jungle on Friday night (kick-off 20:00 GMT, live on Sky Sports Red Button).

The Tigers, on the other hand, have been troubled too. They're without a win this season and sold key man Liam Watts this week, so this already feels like a very important fixture. That makes Castleford Tigers vs Salford Red Devils predictions difficult to call, and they follow below with full team news and Betfred's match odds.

Castleford Tigers vs Salford Red Devils Odds

No doubt swayed by the continued uncertainty surrounding Salford, the Betfred oddmakers have Cas as heavy favourites heading into Friday's round-four clash.

Danny McGuire's Tigers are 1/3 to pick up their first win under the former Leeds Rhinos and England half-back, implying a 75% likelihood of the home side getting off the mark.

After naming only 17 players in their initial squad for Friday, Salford have been priced at 12/5 for the win, with 20/1 about the draw in 80 minutes. That latter bet has already landed once in the Tigers' embryonic 2025 season in a 19-18 golden-point loss to Hull KR in week one.

More value could be picked up on the home side in the handicap markets, with the regular two-way bracket pricing Castleford at 10/11 with an 8.5-point deficit to contend with. Salford are 5/6 with the start in their favour.

Team News

All the interest and all the eyes have been on Salford. The Red Devils are back under special restrictions despite having seen them lifted after round one following the drawn-out takeover of the club. In simple terms, that means boss Paul Rowley can only select £1.2 million worth of players from his £2m squad.

It is more complicated than that now though, given the players haven't been paid and have been holding crisis meetings about when they might be. Both players and staff have been off work while it is sorted out.

In terms of the initial squad named, Salford have a stronger line-up than was initially feared, indeed I'm told that they have special dispensation to make changes to the previous selection.

Unavailable are the suspended Jayden Nikorima and Joe Shorrocks, while Brad Singleton has picked up an injury. But some big names have been allowed to play, namely Chris Hill, Marc Sneyd and captain Kallum Watkins.

The club now has to persuade players to play, having still not been paid.

As for Castleford, McGuire is down to his bare bones. On-loan winger Lee Kershaw has gone back to Hull KR and forward Jeremiah Simbiken is suspended.

Half-back Rowan Milnes is named in the initial 21 but has not played yet this season because of a knee injury, and hooker Cain Robb is also included.

Handicap 2-way: Salford +8.5 @ 5/6

It's almost impossible to assess what we are going to get from this game given the state of affairs at Salford and the uncertainty over what kind of team they will put out.

It should be stronger than the farce that saw their reserves hammered at St Helens in round one, yet not as strong as the team that has been beaten in subsequent games at home to Leeds Rhinos and away to Hull KR.

The three meetings last season all produced similar scorelines, Salford winning twice at home, by eight and four points, and Castleford winning their home fixture by 12.

In truth, this feels like the perfect chance for Castleford to get their own season up and running, but the quality players on the pitch could still end up all being in Salford shirts.

For that reason I'm backing the unknown quantity to stay close, and perhaps even go better.

Rugby League Odds

Fletcher Rooney anytime tryscorer @ 5/4

Castleford may not have won a game yet but they do have some good strike players in Tex Hoy and Fletcher Rooney, along with their try machine from last season Innes Senior.

Both Rooney and Senior were on the board at AMT Headingley last weekend in a 38-24 defeat, and I'm liking the odds on Rooney running in a score against the Red Devils too.

For Salford, Nene Macdonald would be my choice at 11/10, and an implied probability of 47.6%, having scored a try in each of Salford's last three games with Castleford.

Offers

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