Catalans Dragons vs Oldham Prediction: 9/2 pick has Les Dracs by five scores

The final game of the Betfred Challenge Cup Fourth Round takes place on Saturday evening as former winners Catalans Dragons welcome Championship side Oldham to the Stade Gilbert Brutus (18:30 GMT).

Catalans earned a confidence-boosting Super League win at Leigh last weekend, while Oldham have also won two of their four league games this term - albeit in the tier below. That will play into my Catalans Dragons vs Oldham predictions, which are below with the latest team news and Betfred's match odds.

Team News

Catalans produced a fine win in Leigh last weekend and boss Joel Tomkins makes just two changes for the visit of the Roughyeds this weekend.

Wingers Tommy Makinson and Nick Cotric both drop out, and are replaced in a 21-man squad by Josh Simm and Alexis Lis. The Dragons are already missing some other key talent however, with captain Ben Garcia, prop Julian Bousquet and Manase Kaho all missing.

It remains a pretty strong squad though, with exciting full-back Charlie Staines one to watch having delivered with a 13/8 anytime try last week.

As for Oldham, they were knocking on Super League's door with an impressive first season back in the Betfred Championship in 2025, and are looking to consolidate this season under new boss Alan Kilshaw.

He also makes a few changes as Oldham bid to win on French soil for the first time ever in the club's 150-year history.

Returning to the squad are full-back Jack Walker, forward Ryan Lannon and centre Ben O'Keefe. Dropping out this week are Harvey Makin - who has returned to parent club Wigan - and Emmanuel Waine. New signings Brad Day and Bayley Liu are both cup-tied and unable to feature having already played in this year's competition for Halifax.

Star names in the Roughyeds squad include Josh Drinkwater, who won the Challenge Cup with Catalans in their famous 2018 triumph, and other former Super League talent in Ben Davies, Kieran Dixon, Jack Ormondroyd, Adam Milner and Jake Bibby - a Challenge Cup winner with Wigan.

Catalans Dragons vs Oldham Odds

While the Dragons are 1/50 for the win, there is value here if you fancy Oldham as they are 12/1 to cause an upset. It's 28/1 for the game to reach golden-point extra-time.

The Roughyeds are handed a 34.5-point start on the two-way handicap, with Catalans 20/21 beat the margin. Oldham are 5/6 to keep it closer than that.

Catalans by 26-30 points @ 9/2

This is a nice fixture for a Catalans team looking to find some consistency that was so lacking in 2026. One cup win and two victories from four in Super League indicates they are not there yet, but there were some encouraging signs in the win at Leigh last week. In Staines and half-back pair Lewis Dodd and Toby Sexton there are points in this team.

Oldham have been one of the stories of the past couple of seasons as they transform from League 1 outsiders to Super League hopefuls. But 2026 has so far been difficult after last year's top-four Championship finish. Head coach Sean Long and managing director Mike Ford have both departed, and Oldham have yet to hit the heights of last year.

On their day I believe there is enough quality in this Oldham side to trouble Catalans, and their two defeats in the Championship this year have been against the top two in London and Widnes. So you could argue that there is more chance of an upset in this fixture than in the ties involving the two other Championship teams Goole and Keighley. But I still can't see it.

The handicap is 36, which is interesting. Catalans should beat that but they are yet to cut loose at home to put it mildly. Their win over Huddersfield was hard-fought, and the less said about the 36-4 home loss to St Helens the better.

I'm going to have a punt on the winning margin on this one, although the first-half 16.5 handicap also appeals at 1/1.

I'm looking at a Dragons win at between 26 and 30 points, which is available at 9/2 with Betfred.