Wigan Warriors vs York Knights Prediction: Back Zach to crack Knights defence

Wigan's ominous early-season form is anticipated to continue this weekend when the Betfred Super League leaders host new boys York in the first fixture of the round on Thursday night (20:00, live on Sky Sports+).

Our rugby league guru George Riley shares his Wigan Warriors vs York Knights predictions, complete with the latest match odds and team news.

Team News

Wigan mean business as they bid to wrestle back the clean sweep of honours they relinquished to Hull KR last year. And what is even more impressive right now is that their winning run has continued in the absence of their two superstars.

Both Bevan French and Jai Field remain sidelined for a significant period but such is the conveyor belt of young talent at Wigan that the team has barely looked weakened in their absence.

Wigan handed a start to youngster Noah Hodkinson at full-back last week in those big shoes to fill left by French and Field. And Hodkinson produced a composed try-scoring display, with fellow youngster Dayon Sambou also taking his chance off the bench with a try of his own.

Remember England centre Jake Wardle is also out and won't play for a couple of months with a knee injury. On the wings young Zach Eckersley and veteran Liam Marshall just continue to chalk off the tries like a well-oiled Warriors machine.

My call last week was for head coach Matty Peet to resist the temptation to move Eckersley off the wing to cover French and Field and bring Hodkinson in at full-back. That is what happened and both produced tries. After naming an unchanged squad this week I would expect Wigan to also name an unchanged team on their return to Super League action.

York meanwhile have won two of their first four games in the top tier, both of those being famous scalps against the two Hull sides. Boss Mark Applegarth names just a 20-man squad but does have winger David Nofoaluma back after he was Cup-tied last week. Sam Cook is also included on loan from Newcastle while Sam Wood is named despite going to hospital last week. There is no half-back Liam Harris or prop King Vuniyayawa.

Wigan Warriors vs York Knights Odds

The league leaders are prohibitively-priced at 1/14 to earn another three points on their home turf. The visiting York Knights are 15/2 to spring an upset - while the draw is available at 25/1.

Favourite to open the scoring on Thursday night is Warriors duo Lima Marshall and Zach Eckersley at 11/2.

Handicap 3-Way - Wigan -28 @ 21/20

Wigan's healthy 30-6 Cup triumph over Bradford Bulls saw both of our selections come in, having backed the Warriors on the -21.5 handicap and tipped centre Adam Keighran to score an anytime try at 5/4. So let's see if we can come up trumps again this week against another promoted side.

What is striking about Wigan at the moment is not just the volume of points they are scoring, but a defence that hates to concede. Toulouse and Castleford have both managed 16 points against Wigan, and lost both. Aside from that, the most Wigan have conceded in a game this year is six points - one solitary try.

York though have proved they have stepped up to Super League to play, and are happy to be bold and play open. It is an approach that has yielded a hatful of points for Applegarth's men. 56 points in beating Keighley last week in the Cup, and an impressive 30 in defeat to Warrington in the previous Super League game. The Knights have scored at least three tries in every game so far this year, despite two of those ending in defeat. So this could be a fun watch.

The handicap is a big one - York have a 28-point start with Betfred. Considering they are likely to score a try or two, that means we are looking at the home side to score in the region of 40. That feels like a brave bet. But I'm going to take on the handicap this week for another healthy Wigan win.

Zach Eckersley to score 2+ tries @ 21/10

Wigan may have no French or Field but they are not lacking try scorers.

Zach Eckersley - 1/2 again with Betfred for an anytime try this week - now has 11 tries in his six games so far in 2026, and is enjoying a healthy scoring battle with the veteran Liam Marshall on the other flank.

For a little more value last week we had a successful look at goal-kicking centre Adam Keighran. After helping himself to two tries in the first 16 minutes in Wigan's last Super League win at Toulouse, Keighran scored again in the Cup last week at 5/4. An experienced head inside of Eckersley, that link-up could prove key again.

For York to keep their scoring run going, I would be looking at their experienced finishers - Grand Final winner Ben Jones-Bishop and the aforementioned Nofoaluma are both 5/2 to score anytime.

But I'm looking at Eckersley to be on the mark again, and am backing the young flier to grab a double at 21/10.

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