Northampton Saints vs Sale Prediction: Saints to sink Sale on successful Saturday

Sale have not had much joy at Franklin’s Gardens in recent years and the Sharks face another tough challenge on Saturday (15:00, Discovery+) when they take on Northampton Saints in the Gallagher Prem.

Alex Jack provides his best bets in his Northampton Saints vs Sale prediction piece, as well as all the essential team news and match odds for the encounter in the East Midlands.

Rugby Union odds

Team news

Northampton start with a front three of Emmanuel Iyogun, Craig Wright and Trevor Davison, with Alex Coles and JJ Van Der Mescht in the second row.

Josh Kemeny, Tom Pearson and Henry Pollock form the back row, with England duo Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith in the half-backs.

Fraser Dingwall and Toby Thame start in the centres, while Saints have a back three of Edoardo Todaro, George Hendy and George Furbank.

As for Sale, Si McIntyre, Luke Cowan-Dickie and WillGriff John get the nod in the front row, with Tom Burrow and Ben Bamber in the engine room.

Jacques Vermeulen, Ernst van Rhyn and skipper Tom Curry complete the pack, while Raffi Quirke and Rob du Preez combine in the half-backs.

Marius Louw and Joe Bedlow are the starting centre partnership, with Alex Wills, Tom O’Flaherty and Arron Reed in the back three for the visitors.

Nothampton Saints vs Sale Odds

Northampton are 1/4 favourites for the win on home turf, while Sale are 16/5 to head back to the north-west with the victory.

A draw at Franklin’s Gardens is 25/1, while Northampton with a -4.5 first-half handicap are 8/11.

Northampton Saints -10 handicap @ 4/5

Northampton have picked up form with back-to-back wins over Pau and the Bulls in the European Rugby Champions Cup and now the Saints switch their focus back to matters in the Gallagher Prem.

Saints are undefeated at home in the league this season, having drawn with Exeter Chiefs in their opening game before going on to beat arch-rivals Leicester Tigers and Saracens.

Meanwhile, Sale have earned the unwanted tag of being poor travellers in the Gallagher Prem, with the Sharks losing all of their three away games in the league so far this season.

Still missing England fly-half George Ford, who enjoyed a tremendous Autumn Nations Series for his country, the absence of the Lancastrian in the No.10 jersey will be felt on Saturday.

Sale have lost five of their last six away games in all competitions and it’s hard to see the Sharks causing an upset this weekend.

Northampton have won all of their last three home matches against Sale and, having won 47-17 in their last Prem meeting at The Gardens, Saints can cover the -10 handicap again here.

Rugby Union betting tips from Betfred Insights.