England vs Samoa Prediction: Wane and Co set for clean sweep

England head to Headingley on Saturday (14:30, live on BBC One) aiming to secure a 2-0 series clean sweep against Samoa after an impressive 34-18 win for Shaun Wane's men in the opening Test last weekend.

An entertaining, six-try performance in Wigan should have the South Stand bouncing in Leeds, but can the tourists hit back and salvage some pride? Here's my England vs Samoa predictions.

England vs Samoa Odds

England are heavy favourites at 1/5 (83.3% implied probability) to secure the victory, while Samoa are 18/5 (21.7%) to cause an upset. The draw is available at 22/1.

Team News

England are forced into a couple of changes for the trip to West Yorkshire, as star NRL winger Dom Young misses out.

The Sydney Roosters winger picked up a hand injury last weekend and his place will go to the Betfred Super League's top try scorer Liam Marshall, with the 28-year-old poised to make his full England debut.

The other changes see Wigan forward Luke Thompson brought in after his suspension from the Grand Final, to replace Huddersfield new boy Tom Burgess, while another of Wane's Wigan contingent - the exciting Junior Nsemba - is selected for the first time.

Veteran prop Chris Hill, who was surprisingly left out of the squad for the first Test, misses out again - although I'm told he suffered a niggle in training this week. Omitted again are Warrington hooker Danny Walker and NRL forward Morgan Smithies.

Leeds centre Harry Newman keeps his place and is the only Rhino in the squad to play on his home turf this week.

As tipped in this column, Warrington winger Matty Ashton took his chance on the wing following his selection ahead of Marshall, as he ran in two more tries in a livewire performance last weekend.

Samoa started slowly in Wigan but grew into the game, with the odd hint of the quality that powered them to the World Cup final a couple of years ago.

Parramatta's Jake Tago comes into their squad in place of his brother Izack who is ruled out by a "minor" injury.

Elsewhere in Samoa's 19-man squad, Canberra's Simi Sasagi replaces Paul Roche, though I would not expect him to make the matchday 17.

England -14 - Handicap 3-Way @ 1/1

Last weekend's game went pretty much exactly how we tipped, with England's 16-point victory justifying our punt on the -12 handicap 3-way, and Matty Ashton obliging with not one but two anytime tries.

I sensed it might be a little tighter than some were predicting, and so it proved, but I was impressed - perhaps more so than England head coach Shaun Wane - by how well the hosts played.

Samoa definitely grew into the game and England will be disappointed with the three tries they conceded.

I'm expecting more of the same however in Leeds this weekend, with both sides having had an extra week in camp and making a couple of changes apiece.

Samoa know now where they can cause problems for this England team and I feel they could have some joy again, but there is just too much quality and passion in this Shaun Wane team for the hosts to let the tourists escape with a tied series. .

The Headingley crowd produced one of the best atmospheres in the British game and England can use that to their advantage to get off to another good start. I fancy England for the first score and to lead throughout, and am looking at a similar victory margin of two to three scores.

For that reason I am backing England on the handicap again at -14 and fancy another half dozen tries from the men in white.

Harry Newman - Anytime Try Scorer @ 6/4

Matty Ashton was our try scorer tip last week and the Warrington winger didn't disappoint, adding another two to his tally.

That's five tries in his last four England appearances for Ashton and he's understandably longer odds at 1/2 this week to keep that run going.

The better value therefore for England lies either in the halves or the centres, with skipper George Williams available at 6/5 having scored last week, and Mikey Lewis 1/1.

I'm backing the Leeds boy though to touch down in front of his home crowd, with Harry Newman my 6/4 anytime try scorer tip.

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