Warrington Wolves vs Salford Red Devils Prediction: Skipper to show seniority

Warrington Wolves' season is effectively over, with many fans believing last weekend's defeat to Huddersfield Giants was a new low. Friday night should bring some relief at least, when crisis club Salford Red Devils head to the Halliwell Jones Stadium (20:00 BST, Sky Sports+).

The Red Devils are crawling to the end of a season that has threatened their very existence, and just fielding a team at the moment feels like a big win. Below are my Warrington Wolves vs Salford Red Devils predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Wire head coach Sam Burgess rings the changes this week after the Huddersfield horror show, with five alterations.

In truth, all the changes are enforced for a variety of reasons, as prop James Harrison and the experienced Ben Currie are out for the rest of the season through injury.

Lachlan Fitzgibbon is also unavailable through concussion protocols after failing an HIA last week, while young centre Connor Wrench announced his shock retirement from the sport this week at the age of 23.

Forward Sam Stone is left out against his parent club.

Youngsters Ewan Smith, James Duffy and Tom McKinney are all included, while Alfie Johnson and Max Wood, who played on loan for London last week in the Championship, are both selected too.

Salford's squad this week is again full of loanees. Of the new crop, Jack Croft arrives from Wakefield, while Jack Walker is also named after signing from Sheffield, and Isaac Shaw too.

Key playmaker Jayden Nikorima also makes the squad after an injury that has sidelined him since July.

Warrington Wolves vs Salford Red Devils Odds

Warrington are 1/50 to win, Salford are 14/1, or a 6.7% chance, and the draw is 22/1.

Handicap 3-way Warrington -30 @ 20/21

You obviously can't back Salford to win any games at the moment, given the state of the club and, as a consequence, the squad and team that boss Paul Rowley is having to field each week.

However, I have noticed some jitters among Wolves fans this week, given the way their season is meandering to an inconsequential conclusion. Wire's absentees will give Salford's patched-up team some reason for hope, but I don't feel there is a realistic prospect of a huge shock, despite how Salford played in a narrow home defeat by Wire 24-12 last month. Salford really should have won that game, but they have lost pretty much every remaining senior player since then.

So this is all on Warrington really - how bad are they right now, or will this game prove the perfect chance to rack up some points and give the fans something to smile about finally and keep alive that minuscule hope of a playoff place?

The handicap is 30, which is the lowest it has been for a Salford game for months, and that tells you what has happened to Warrington. But I still feel the home side will be strong enough to justify the start.

George Williams anytime try @ 6/5

It feels like take your pick in the anytime scorer market when Salford are the opposition, with the Thewlis brothers, Jake and Josh, both 2/5 to cross in 80 minutes.

Matt Dufty at 1/2 is a likely scorer, while I backed George Williams at 5/4 last week, and he ended up having a frustrating afternoon.

I'll give the captain another chance this week, given the value, as Williams should be key, given the absence of senior heads elsewhere in the team.

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