Warrington Wolves vs Leigh Leopards Prediction: 3/1 scorer to help Leopards secure final spot

Last year's beaten finalists Warrington bid to return to Wembley at the expense of 2023 Betfred Challenge Cup winners Leigh Leopards when the two sides meet at the Totally Wicked Stadium in Sunday's mouth-watering second semi-final (16:15, live on BBC Two).

Read on for our rugby league expert George Riley's Warrington Wolves vs Leigh Leopards predictions, featuring the latest match odds and essential team news.

Warrington Wolves vs Leigh Leopards Odds

Wire are 4/6 favourites to book their ticket to Wembley with victory on Sunday, while Leigh are 13/10 to do likewise. The draw is available at 18/1.

Matty Ashton heads the betting to open the scoring at 7/1, followed by Matt Duffy (15/2), Josh Charnley (17/2) and Josh Thewlis (9/1).

Team News

Both sides have been beset by key injuries in recent weeks and it will be fascinating to see which of the players named in the initial 21-man squads will actually be fit enough to play.

Definitely out for Warrington is captain George Williams who faces a race against time to even make the final should the Wolves get there, after injuring his ankle against Hull FC last month.

Both Williams and half-back partner Marc Sneyd have been missing, the latter having suffered a fractured eye socket. Sneyd has been named in the squad by head coach Sam Burgess, which would be a major boost if fit given the makeshift pairings that Warrington have fielded in recent weeks.

One player who has been deputising in the halves is also out, with hooker Danny Walker set for surgery that will rule him out for 12 weeks.

Outside backs Matty Ashton and Toby King are also back in the squad, so youngster Ewan Irwin and Max Wood drop out along with Walker.

If Ashton is fit then that could mean Jake Thewlis could miss out despite helping himself to two tries against Wigan at Magic Weekend.

Leigh boss Adrian Lam has some senior players back in his squad for the big game, namely centre Umyla Hanley, forward Jack Hughes and half-back Gareth O'Brien. Also back is star full-back David Armstrong plus Alec Tuitavake.

If Armstrong is fit then Bailey Hodgson is likely to move from full-back to wing, and O'Brien's return would mean Ben McNamara dropping out or replacing Brad Dwyer on the bench. For once Lam appears to have plenty of options.

Still absent are Frankie Halton, Kennan Brand and Aaron Pene.

Leigh Leopards to win by 1-12 points @ 11/5

We will already know the first finalists of course before this one even kicks off, and Leigh come into the game as the form side with five straight wins, with Warrington limping to just one victory in their last four.

Betfred though have the big-game Wolves as 4/6 favourites, with the Leopards available at 13/10 and I fancy that Leigh may well be worth a good look here.

If Sneyd is fit then that is huge for Warrington. If he is absent then that is a hammer blow given the absence too of the influential Williams. And even if Sneyd does start, how fit is he?

I was leaning towards a Leopards win even before studying the odds, having seen a lot of both sides in recent weeks. Leigh won 18-14 in this fixture a few weeks ago in Super League and have in fact won three of the last four battles with Warrington.

I think this will be really close, and having to back a horse before seeing the two line-ups is tough, given the uncertainty around some key players for both sides.

But my instinct is that Leigh can win this in a tight tussle, so I am going for the Leopards by 1-12. The Leopards looked wobbly at the end of March but have won every game since and the response at Magic after falling behind against the Dragons was strong.

Warrington can blow hot and cold. They can almost certainly win this fixture, but given the odds favour Leigh in what I feel is a flip of a coin, I'm backing the Leopards to reach Wembley.

Edwin Ipape to score a try at anytime @ 3/1

We have had some joy in recent weeks in backing the Leopards' livewire hooker, and I am sticking with Ipape to make an impact on the big occasion.

I've never known a hooker be as much of a try-threat as this guy, and at 4/1 I'm more than happy to back him again.

Ipape has scored three tries in his last three games, including against Warrington in their Super LEague meeting last month.

If he is on song this weekend then that will be key to Leigh's hopes of returning to Wembley.

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