York Knights vs Wigan Warriors Prediction: Life doesn’t get any easier for York

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York Knights vs Wigan Warriors Odds

Team News

Wigan were strengthened last week by the returns of star man Bevan French and half-back Harry Smith and the former again came off the bench after half-time in the win at Wakefield.

That meant youngster Jack Farrimond keeping his place, as he may do again this week. Head coach Matt Peet makes just one change to his initial squad, which is enforced after forward Ethan Havard underwent surgery on a broken jaw over the weekend - an injury suffered at Wakefield.

So Havard drops out and youngster Shea O'Connor is added to the 21-man squad.

Forward Sam Walters serves the third of his seven-match ban following his red card at Wembley.

York boss Mark Applegarth makes one change to his squad as he looks to arrest a run of five straight defeats.

That change sees a return to the squad for Nikau Williams following his loan spell at Newcastle.

Former Man of Steel Paul McShane remains the big-name injury absentee.

Handicap 3-way Wigan Warriors -30  @ 20/21

It doesn't get much easier for poor old York after facing the Challenge Cup winners Hull KR last week and coming unstuck 38-6. A week later they face the team who beat Rovers at Wembley, an increasingly hungry Wigan Warriors.

Fortunately for Knights fans, Huddersfield remain below them in the table, but this looks like being another painful afternoon at the LNER Community Stadium.

York may have stunned Hull KR at home and given Warrington a giant scare there too, but things have reverted to type since then and this one looks like a mismatch.

Wigan have scored 128 in winning their last three games, matches that were a Challenge Cup final against the champions Hull KR, an always-testing away day at Catalans Dragons in the Stade Gilbert Brutus and a daunting trip to previously in-form Wakefield last week.

That the Warriors have come through those games with flying colours, with star man French still wrapped in cotton wool, feels like an ominous sign for teams above them.

And very ominous therefore for teams below them. York need to really turn up in this one to keep it respectable, but the one big sign of encouragement is what happened at Wigan in the first meeting this year in March.

York lost 23-22 in a thriller that they really should have won. Yet this still feels like a different landscape. Wigan are growing as a unit as you would expect, while York's squad is being stretched by injuries.

I have Wigan to win this one comfortably. The handicap is a walloping 30 points which shows the contrasting fortunes and strength of these two sides of late, but the way Wigan are going they can probably cover it.