Huddersfield Giants vs Salford Red Devils Predictions: Brierley to star in tight tussle

Huddersfield Giants almost responded to the departure of head coach Ian Watson with an against-the-odds win at Leigh Leopards last week, and after coming up just short they will fancy this one on Friday at home to Salford Red Devils (kick-off 19:45 BST, Sky Sports Mix) 

The Red Devils took their fine form to the south of France and came crashing back down to earth with a heavy defeat at Catalans Dragons, so how will they respond in West Yorkshire?

Huddersfield Giants vs Salford Red Devils Odds

Huddersfield are outsiders on their own turf, with Betfred offering 7/5 on a home win for the coachless Giants. Salford are 8/13 to take the two points back over the Pennines, while it's 18/1 for the draw. The featured 2-way handicap market has Huddersfield at 20/21 with a 3.5-point start, and Salford 4/5 giving up the narrow margin.

Team News

Huddersfield are again led by interim boss Luke Robinson as their former half-back oversees team matters until the search for Watson’s successor reaches a positive conclusion. And Robinson makes several changes this week.

Matty English has been recalled from his loan spell at Castleford Tigers and is straight into contention. Centre Kevin Naiqama is back in the squad, so too veteran Leroy Cudjoe. But top tryscorer Adam Swift remains a long-term absentee and key prop forward Luke Yates has left the club after Huddersfield accepted an undisclosed fee from Warrington Wolves to take Yates for the rest of the season.

Sam Hewitt and Andrew Savelio both found themselves in disciplinary bother in that defeat to Leigh last Saturday and serve two-match bans. Savelio’s red card was his second of the season. Joe Greenwood misses out this week through injury.

Rugby League Odds

Salford bid to bounce back from that poor showing in Perpignan and recall half-back Cade Cust to their squad along with new loan signing Joe Bullock from Warrington who is expected to go straight into the pack.

Loghan Lewis misses out through concussion protocols, and star centre Tim Lafai is still missing. Fellow centre Nene Macdonald was named in the squad last week but didn’t play – he is again included.

Handicap 3-Way: Huddersfield 4 @ 20/21

This actually feels like a really tough game to call. Our punt on the Red Devils last week did not pay off – as I said: “The Red Devils could either get another hiding or win the match,” there just did not feel like being any middle ground. There wasn’t, but unfortunately it was the former and Salford were sent packing 20-0 after a very off-colour display in which they were second best in every department.

As for the Giants, they fared slightly better than I expected despite the defeat at Leigh, so I can see this one going either way.

Salford won by two points here in May and 32-8 in this fixture last season. So the wise money is on an away win, but as we saw last week, it very much depends what mood Paul Rowley’s men are in.

Given my reluctance to back Salford with any relish, I’m going to look at Huddersfield with a slight start on the handicap with the 20/21 price implying a 51.2% probability.

Ryan Brierley anytime tryscorer @ 6/4

Whether it is tight or not, I think there will be points and am looking at Salford’s try scorer market in this one. Out wide, wingers Ethan Ryan and Deon Cross are both available at 11/10, while I am tempted to stay away from the centres as we still don’t know whether Nene Macdonald is fit to play.

Full-back Ryan Brierley now has a couple of games under his belt since returning from injury, and as a former Huddersfield player – he scored 15 tries in 26 games in a Giants shirt – he will be looking to impress at his former club – he always lifts his game against one of his former sides it seems.

Brierley to score anytime is 6/4, with our Double Delight available on this game to double your odds if you fancy Brierley to score the first try of the game at 10/1 and then score again later on.

You can read all our latest Rugby League Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights Rugby League content hub.