Warrington Wolves vs Leeds Rhinos Prediction: 5/2 Handley and Leeds to push Wire

Leeds Rhinos head to Warrington Wolves on Friday with huge confidence after a stunning home win over the Betfred Super League champions Wigan Warriors and will look to prove it was no fluke with another big performance at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

The Wolves won't be short on belief either after their thrilling 14-12 win at St Helens last week, so this game has all the makings of a cracker. Read on for my Warrington Wolves vs Leeds Rhinos predictions, as well as full team news and Betfred's match odds.

Warrington Wolves vs Leeds Rhinos Odds

The markets have a fairly fascinating look after the results of the last few weeks. Warrington are 4/11 favourites for the win in 80 minutes, which is understandable given their victory over St Helens righted the ship after back-to-back losses in Super League against Wigan and Wakefield Trinity.

You can get 23/10 for a Leeds win at the HJ, which implies a 30.3% probability for a side with a 42.3% success rate at this stadium in league play.

The draw is an 18/1 chance, and the two-way handicap marker is planted at the 8.5-point mark in Leeds' favour. Against that backdrop, the Rhinos are 5/6 and Warrington 10/11.

Team News

Sam Burgess makes a couple of changes to the Warrington squad following last week's win at Saints. Jake Thewlis and Luke Yates return to the fold in place of the injured Josh Thewlis (hip) and Alfie Johnson.

The inclusion of Yates is something of a surprise, with his ankle injury having been expected to keep him out for a further month.

Leeds boss Brad Arthur names an unchanged squad for the first time this season, with no fresh injuries sustained in that epic win over Wigan. The big call in that game was leaving out scrum-half Matt Frawley, with Lachie Miller starting at full-back and Jake Connor partnering Brodie Croft in the halves. Leeds are likely to keep that spine the same after impressing last weekend.

Hooker Andy Ackers remains sidelined, as does loose forward Cameron Smith, with winger Maiko Silvo out for the season.

Rugby League Odds

Handicap 3-way: Leeds +10 @ 5/6

Leeds were full value for their win over Wigan last weekend and dominated the Warriors in every area of the pitch. But can the Rhinos, who are always capable of a result like this, now find some consistency with another one?

The two sides are level on six points having taken three wins each from their first five games but the Rhinos do tend to struggle at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Two of the last three visits to Warrington have ended in heavy defeats for Leeds, but given what we saw at Headingley it feels unlikely that this will be too painful a trip over the Pennines for Leeds.

In truth, both of these teams are transitioning, and Warrington under Sam Burgess are further along the road. Leeds can be a very good side but at the moment they have not been able to show it consistently.

It is that which stops me feeling confident about backing a Leeds win here, even though when looking at the two squads I probably would lean towards an away win.

But Warrington, if they get a quick start in front of their home fans, can get away from you very quickly. I do think there can be something in this game for Leeds, and looking at the handicap I’m going to take Brad Arthur’s side with a 10-point start for the 5/6 on offer.

Ash Handley anytime tryscorer @ 5/2

By the lofty standards of Leeds’ main strike winger, this has been a relatively quiet start to the season for Ash Handley. And even then, he’s scored three tries in the last five games.

Generally, when Leeds play well, Handley scores a try. And when Handley scores a try, Leeds win.

This Friday marks 200 Super League appearances for Handley, so it seems a fitting bet to look at Ash for an anytime try.

And at 5/2, with an implied probability of 28.6%, we have to fancy our chances.

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