Canterbury Bulldogs vs Parramatta Eels Predictions: Bulldogs can maintain recent momentum

The Canterbury Bulldogs have the NRL top eight within their sights and they will fancy their chances of overcoming the Parramatta Eels on Monday.

Monday's encounter (07:00 KO) will be the final match in Round 14 and it promises to be a close game, despite the Bulldogs having a six-place cushion over their visitors. Below you can read my Canterbury Bulldogs vs Parramatta Eels prediction.

Team News

Both teams will have had five days to recover some State of Origin One, so Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton has every chance of starting, while five-eighth Matt Burton should also get the nod after he was named the 18th man for the Blues.

Toby Sexton has held onto his place at halfback, leaving Drew Hutchison in the reserves. Lipoi Hopoi settles for a place on the bench, having made his debut last week.

Eels ace Blaize Talagi replaces Bailey Simonsson who has a knee issue. J'maine Hopgood should be able to start after taking part in Origin One, while Ryan Matterson is named in the reserves as he tries to rediscover his fitness after illness.

Canterbury Bulldogs vs Parramatta Eels Odds

Despite being the away side, the Eels are 4/5 favourites - or a 55.6% chance - for Monday's encounter, with the draw 20/1, while the Bulldogs are 11/10 to collect the two points.

The Eels are only considered -2 favourites on the handicap at 1/1, while those who fancy a high-scoring game can back over 46.5 points at 5/6.

Canterbury Bulldogs to win @ 11/10

The Eels are hoping to win back-to-back games for the first time this season and they come into the contest on the back of a 34-22 victory over the Cronulla Sharks.

Before that, they had lost five matches in a row and the Eels have only won four games all season, so it is a tad surprising to see them odds on in the match result market.

The Bulldogs have beaten St. George Illawarra and Newcastle Knights in their last two games, keeping both of those teams from scoring more than 14 points.

They have won four of their last six games in the NRL, and they should be able to secure a third win in succession.

Under 47.5 points @ 10/11

The Bulldogs conceded just two points against the Knights, while they beat the Dragons 44-12.

In their last four defeats, the Bulldogs have not lost by more than six points and they should be able to keep the Eels quiet, especially when Parramatta have yet to win away from home.

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