Leigh Leopards vs Hull FC Prediction: Strugglers to stay within handicap in spite of prolific Charnley

Two Betfred Super League play-off hopefuls meet at the Leigh Sports Village on Friday night as the Leigh Leopards host Hull FC with both teams currently outside of the top six (8pm, Sky Sports+).

The Leopards had won three in a row prior to last week's narrow defeat to champions Hull KR, and start as big favourites against an injury-hit Black and Whites side who have lost back-to-back games against promoted sides. Here are my Leigh Leopards vs Hull FC predictions, Betfred's match odds and the latest team news.

Leigh Leopards vs Hull FC Odds

The Leopards are huge 1/11 favourites to pick up the two league points, with Hull 13/2. The draw is a 25/1 bet, while Leigh give up an 18.5-point lead in the regular two-way handicap in return for odds of 10/11. FC are 5/6 in that scenario.

Team News

Leigh only name a 19-man squad this week with a few key names missing.

Centre Tesi Niu is out - he pulled up in the warm-up against Rovers last week and is not involved at all. England prop Robbie Mulhern remains absent, as does Keenan Brand.

What that actually means is in all likelihood an unchanged matchday 17 this week, with head coach Adrian Lam devoid of any real alternatives. Lam will also be buoyed by how close his side ran the champions in that four-point defeat, having scored 10 unanswered points after half-time.

As for Hull, there is no Yusuf Aydin, who was hit with a hefty six-match suspension for a tip tackle in defeat at Bradford. And there are more injuries too - something that FC could seriously do without.

Last season's top tryscorer Lewis Martin drops out with an ankle injury, hooker Amir Bourouh failed his Head Injury Assessment, Ligi Sao has a shoulder issue and fellow forward Brad Fash has a knee injury. All four drop out this week along with the suspended Aydin. By my maths, Hull currently have 15 of their first-team squad unavailable.

There is some good news however, with try-scoring prop Herman Ese'ese included for the first time since his ACL injury.

Also coming into the squad are Hugo Salabio, Ben Johnson, Joe Phillips and Lennon Clark.

Rugby League Odds

Hull FC +26.5 & Josh Charnley To Score A Try @ 23/20

I expect Leigh to win this game but was a little taken aback by the 1/11 outright odds and 20-point handicap for this one. Hull have a huge number of players missing but there is still some decent quality in that squad and it was only a few weeks ago they were scoring half a century on the road against Castleford.

The Leopards have been finding their feet now key players are back and firing, and despite defeat last week I still felt it was another big step in the right direction - certainly the manner of the performance in the second half.

So while I would be gobsmacked at anything other than a Leopards win, I'm looking for a little more value around that handicap mark.

Having Hull to get within four or five scores of their hosts feels feasible, and there are options to combine that with a tryscorer in one of our PickYourPunt selections.

I quite like the 23/20 on a Josh Charnley try combined with Hull FC +26.5. I think Hull would feel really dejected at a defeat over that margin, while at 1/2 for an anytime score Charnley feels as much of a cert as you can have in this sport.

Leigh won this fixture 16-6 in the Betfred Challenge Cup tie in March but the previous two meetings both went Hull's way. Charnley, by the way, just needs one try to move ahead of the great Garry Schofield into 21st place on the list of all-time scorers in the British game.

Edwin Ipape Anytime Tryscorer @ 7/4

I'm also looking at the anytime market for this week's second selection, with Leigh players dominating the betting as you would expect.

Betfred is running Super League Double Delight for this one, so if your First Tryscorer selection goes on to score a second try in the game then the title sponsor will double your First Tryscorer price.

Hot picks this week include Charnley (1/2 anytime) and full-back David Armstrong as he continues to return to full fitness after injury (10/11).

I said last week that powerhouse hooker Edwin Ipape is due a try and it is no coincidence that the Leopards' upturn in form has been since his return to full fitness. Considering he again failed to score last week then he is now definitely due a try!

Ipape is 7/4 to score this weekend.

Hull have a fair few strike threats missing, but veteran Zak Hardaker is still out there and good value at 7/2.

Find more Rugby League Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights