Sale vs Bristol Prediction: Sharks to take a chunk out of Bears
As the battle for the Gallagher Premiership playoffs continues, there’s a huge encounter to take in on Friday night (19:45, TNT Sports 1) as Sale Sharks host the Bristol Bears at Salford Community Stadium.
Alex Jack provides his best bets in his Sale vs Bristol prediction piece, as well as all the essential team news and match odds for the showdown in Greater Manchester.
Sale Sharks are the 2/7 favourites on Friday night, while the Bristol Bears are 11/4 to head back to the West Country with the win.
A draw at Salford Community Stadium is currently 22/1, while Bristol are 21/20 with +3.5 in the first-half handicap market.
Team News
Sale go with a front row of Bevan Rodd, Tadgh McElroy and Asher Opoku-Fordjour, while Ernst van Rhyn and Jonny Hill start in the second row.
Jean-Luc du Preez, skipper Ben Curry and Dan du Preez start in the back row, while Gus Warr and George Ford partner up in the half-backs.
It’s Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and Rob du Preez in the centres for the Sharks, while they go with a back three of Tom O’Flaherty, Tom Roebuck and Joe Carpenter.
As for the Bears, Jake Woolmore, Gabriel Oghre and George Kloska start in the front row, with locks Josh Caulfield and Joe Batley in the engine room.
Santiago Grondona, Fitz Harding and Viliame Mata make up the back row, with Harry Randall and AJ MacGinty in the half-backs.
James Williams and Benhard Janse van Rensburg start in the centres, with Gabriel Ibitoye, Kalaveti Ravouvou and Rich Lane in the back three.
Sale -11 handicap @ 11/10
It’s a mammoth weekend of Premiership rugby with some heavyweight showdowns taking place.
Frontrunners Bath host second-placed Leicester Tigers in a mouth-watering clash at the Recreation Ground on Saturday, but first up third-placed Bristol travel to Sale in fourth.
The Sharks have been formidable on their own patch at Salford Community Stadium and will take some stopping in Friday’s encounter with the Bears.
Sale have lost only one of their last 11 home games in the Premiership, with a 32-23 defeat at the hands of table-toppers Bath back in January proving their only setback during that sequence.
Since then, Sale have beaten the likes of Newcastle Falcons, Northampton Saints and Saracens in their last three home matches in this competition.
Bristol picked up a big win over rivals Bath last time out, but that 36-14 success came on home soil at Ashton Gate, with their away form having not proved as strong of late.
Losing their last three Premiership away games, you have to go back to December 21st for the last time Bristol won on the road in this competition.
Given the contrasting home and away form between these sides, Sale are well priced to cover the -11 handicap in this one.
Odds correct at time of publishing.
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