Wakefield Trinity vs Leeds Rhinos Prediction: Newman to cross in the value derby bet

Wakefield Trinity and Leeds Rhinos lock horns on Friday night in a fierce West Yorkshire derby, with a place in the Betfred Challenge Cup quarter-finals up for grabs at the DIY Kitchens Stadium (20:00 GMT, BBC iPlayer).

Both teams come into the game off the back of Super League wins, Trinity securing a confidence-boosting home victory over Hull FC while Leeds have produced some fine early-season form to win their last three. Here are my Wakefield Trinity vs Leeds Rhinos predictions, the latest team news and Betfred's match odds.

Team News

Wakefield's narrow home triumph over Hull last weekend was a 15/8 winner for followers of this column who took the steer on a 1-12-point victory, but Trinity will have their work cut out against a rampant Rhinos side this week.

Since losing at Leigh in the opening round of the Betfred Super League season Leeds have been untouchable, and have some big names back for the short trip to Wakefield.

Half-back Brodie Croft, one of the star performers in the thrilling Las Vegas win over champions Hull KR, is back in the squad after a hamstring issue ruled him out of last week's win over Castleford.

Back-row forward James McDonnell is also back after missing that game, while new signing Jack Bird is involved along with England prop Mikolaj Oledzki, who is yet to feature since last month's cup win over Widnes.

Whether or not any of the three feature in the matchday 17 remains to be seen. Boss Brad Arthur seemed to suggest that McDonnell is the most likely to be involved. Oledzki could get a short spell off the bench as his return is managed. Bird is fit but has not been too heavily involved in full training with his new team-mates so I would not expect him to play yet.

Captain Ash Handley is included despite leaving the field last week holding his groin.

Wakefield are boosted by the return of winger Tom Johnstone after a knee injury picked up in pre-season. He is in line for his first rugby of the campaign.

But half-back Mason Lino is not included. Lino scored the thrilling drop-goal winner when Wakefield beat Leeds in the last meeting between these sides, and was named in last week's squad after injury but did not feature against Hull. He is left out altogether this week.

Johnstone for Lino is the only change.

Wakefield Trinity vs Leeds Rhinos Odds

Leeds are the 4/9 favourites to progress inside 80 minutes, with Trinity 2/1 to get the win. The draw, and extra time, is a 14/1 shot.

The Rhinos give up a 10-point advantage on the three-way handicap market, with their price lengthened to 21/20 in that scenario. Wakey are 10/11 to make the most of the start.

Handicap 3-way Alt 1: Leeds -14 @ 6/4

If Leeds can take their Super League form into the cup then this should be an away win, but some peculiar things can happen in one-off games, especially in a derby.

Wakefield had to work really hard for their 14-10 win over Hull FC last week and are missing a little bit of guile in the absence of Lino. Leeds, on the other hand, are looking ominous, and in powerhouse winger Maika Sivo they have the most potent attacking weapon in the British game. Sivo missed the entirety of his first season with Leeds through injury but is already making up for lost time, scoring an incredible nine tries in his last three games.

In the absence of Croft last week, youngster George Brown took his chance with a try, perhaps allowing Arthur even more time to ease Croft back to fitness should he decide to wrap the former Man of Steel in cotton wool again this week.

Wakefield will benefit from Johnstone's return but I expect this to be too big a task for Daryl Powell's men. Trinity have won two of their first four league games and showed real grit to come past both Hull and Huddersfield in those games.

I have Leeds to reach the next round here. Wakefield have it in them to take this one the distance but I feel Leeds have both the quality and form to keep their noses in front. The 6/4 price on this one implies a 40% probability of the Rhinos clearing the 14-point threshold.

Harry Newman Anytime Tryscorer @ 7/4

Last week we highlighted the dangermen in Wakefield's outside backs in the anytime scorer market, namely Jayden Myers and Oliver Pratt. We opted for Myers in our selection and it was Pratt and Will Tate who scored the three tries between them - bit of bad luck there.

I can't look past Leeds this week however, and all eyes will be on Sivo to see if he can keep his incredible scoring run going. The giant Fijian scored another hat-trick last week to add to his four-try haul against champions Hull KR in Vegas and the two-try showing against York the week before. Such is his purple patch, Sivo is as short as 1/2 with Betfred to score a try anytime this week. If you fancy Sivo, then the first tryscorer market might be the way to go, with the winger 13/2 to score the game's opener.

Other decent options are fellow winger Ryan Hall at 1/1 and livewire full-back Lachie Miller at 4/5 - he is yet to come good for us this season but his performances have been razor sharp.

For Trinity, Myers is again the most likely scorer at 5/4 with the returning Johnstone available at the same price.

I'm looking at the Rhinos' three quarters this week though, so take your pick from Sivo, Hall, or Harry Newman (7/4). Handley is an injury doubt but if he starts then you might want to look at our Price Boosts, where a Leeds win and Handley try double is available at 9/4.

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