Salford Red Devils vs Leeds Rhinos Prediction: Miller to shine in healthy Leeds win

Another week, another Salford Red Devils crisis, as club captain Kallum Watkins leaves to rejoin Leeds Rhinos amidst continued financial uncertainty at the ailing Betfred Super League club. Salford are back at their Salford Community Stadium home on Thursday night for the visit of - you guessed it - Leeds (kick-off 20:00 BST, live on Sky Sports+).

Salford showed pride last weekend in a narrower-than-expected Betfred Challenge Cup defeat away to Catalans Dragons, but can their ravaged squad muster a big enough performance to fend off the Rhinos in Super League? Here are my Salford Red Devils vs Leeds Rhinos predictions, along with team news and Betfred's latest match odds.

Salford Red Devils vs Leeds Rhinos Odds

Given Salford's worries away from the field, it is no surprise to see them available at 9/2 for the win on Thursday, implying an 18.2% probability of a home victory. The draw is priced at 22/1, with the Rhinos a restrictive 1/6 chance.

It might be in the handicap market that you'll find the best value for the away side, and the regular two-way handicap offers Salford a 13.5-point start. In that scenario, the Red Devils are 20/21 with Leeds' odds lengthened to 4/5.

Team News

Both Salford and Leeds have agreed that Watkins will play no part for either side this Thursday night after his move back to AMT Headingley was rubber-stamped this week.

The Red Devils have named a 21-man squad this week, which is something, and include loanees Jonny Vaughan and George Hill once more. Sam Davis is also included - he has been on loan at London - and full-back Ryan Brierley is named too despite pulling up in the warm-up last weekend at the Stade Gilbert-Brutus.

Forwards Chris Hill and Tiaki Chan both picked up injuries in Perpignan and are absent.

Leeds are without their star half-back Brodie Croft for the trip to his former club. Croft suffered an awful head injury in the previous game between the two sides this year, and was stretchered off in a neck brace and receiving oxygen. He has returned to action since then but is now sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Youngster Ethan Clark-Wood is out too, so into the squad come Jack Smith and academy forward Presley Cassell.

Matt Frawley and Jack Sinfield are the two options to replace Croft and partner Jake Connor in the halves.

Handicap 3-way Alternative 1: Leeds -18 @ 7/5

Another tough 80 minutes lie ahead for Paul Rowley and his under-siege Red Devils. Strangely, this is already the second time Salford have hosted Leeds even this early in the season, and all salary cap restrictions were lifted in their round-two meeting but that still saw Salford comfortably beaten 32-6.

So it is impossible to find any reason for optimism for Red Devils fans this week. It really hit home how bad things are at the club right now when Dream Team centre Nene Macdonald was in an Oldham shirt on Sunday in the 1895 Cup, with half the Salford squad at Boundary Park to watch.

Leeds aren't exactly flying - that Salford win and a brilliant home victory over Wigan the obvious high points, but just three wins from six games means they can still see the Red Devils in the rear-view mirror.

For Salford to only lose 20-12 away to Catalans was some effort and at least gives them something to build on. But I can't see anything other than another straight-forward Leeds win this week. Even if the players could shut out the turmoil upstairs, you simply cannot take players like Marc Sneyd, Kallum Watkins, Nene Macdonald and Brad Singleton out of a team and expect them to be as competitive.

The Rhinos should win this comfortably, so picking a selection is where the decisions lie. The regular handicap is at 14 and I think Leeds can more than cover that here, with the three-score start being beaten at an implied 41.7% shot.

Lachie Miller anytime tryscorer @ 1/1

It is great to see Lachie Miller back in the Leeds side after a long old injury lay-off, and the Australian is looking sharper with every game.

The full-back is the kind of player who thrives in broken play, and if the Rhinos dominate this game as they should do then he should have every opportunity to score some points. He has yet to score this season, but his seven tries in 26 games last season for a struggling Leeds side suggest he is bound to get going soon enough.

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