Wigan Warriors vs Leigh Leopards Prediction: 19/10 for champs to edge physical opener

What a start to the new Betfred Super League season as all-conquering Wigan Warriors take their first step to defending the title against local rivals Leigh Leopards in front of a blockbuster crowd at the Brick Community Stadium on Thursday (kick-off 20:00 GMT, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports+)

Wigan are pre-season favourites with Betfred to win the big one again, but this could well prove to be a tricky start against a dangerous near-neighbour, with a record opening-night crowd expected. Below are my Wigan Warriors vs Leigh Leopards predictions, along with full match preview and betting odds.

Wigan Warriors vs Leigh Leopards Odds

The back-to-back reigning champs are huge favourites to get the season off to a flying start. The Warriors are 1/7 with title sponsors Betfred, with Leigh priced at 5/1 to record a first-ever win at the Brick and only their second victory over their borough rivals in 30 attempts dating back to 1984.

There's 20/1 being offered for the draw, while Betfred's price boost on this game has Wigan at 9/4 to score the first three tries of the match, out from 2/1. That implies a 30.8% probability of the Warriors grabbing the big lead.

The two-way handicap threshold is parked at 14.5 points, with the home side 10/11 (52.4% probability) to overcome the disadvantage and Leigh at 5/6 to win with the start.

Team News

The champions name a very strong squad to open the season, with two changes made from last week's Betfred Challenge Cup third round win at Sheffield Eagles.

Senior stars Jake Wardle and Abbas Miski come straight back into the three-quarter line, meaning Jacob Douglas and Taylor Kerr drop out.

The Warriors are currently without star forward Ethan Havard though, with the England international set to miss the first few months of the season with a hamstring injury that looks like needing surgery.

Another exciting young forward, Harvie Hill, is likely to be the man to profit from Havard's absence, while Sam Walters and Harvey Makin were also mentioned by boss Matt Peet in his press briefing this week. Brad O'Neill remains sidelined.

Leigh have some new faces in their squad this year but will be without winger Darnell McIntosh, who was a notable absentee from the initial 21-man squad. His spot is likely to go to either Bailey Hodgson or Keenan Brand.

Key men Edwin Ipape and Josh Charnley are included in what is an otherwise pretty strong Leigh side.

Wigan Warriors 1-12 points @ 19/10

Wigan are 11/8 with Betfred to triumph again at Old Trafford in October, but some feel this could be a banana skin in the opening round of fixtures.

I was with former Super League star Joe Wardle this week, who played with Leigh in 2022 and 2023 before moving to Oldham, where he is now an assistant coach to legend Sean Long. Wardle is well-placed to comment on this one not only given he used to play for Leigh, but his brother Jake is also Wigan's star centre. And Wardle reckons Leigh might turn Wigan over in their own back yard. "They have signed well and I wouldn't be surprised to see them have a fast start and go after Wigan," he told me.

I do think Leigh have the capabilities to win this one, with Wigan no doubt having one eye too on the upcoming trip to Las Vegas where they will face Warrington Wolves next month in round three of the league campaign.

Leigh have indeed signed well, bringing in the likes of David Armstrong, Isaac Liu, Ben Condon and Tesi Niu from the NRL, and I would not be surprised to see them have a real go in this one.

But I'm going to be a little more cautious to start the tipping season, and having watched Wigan score eight tries through eight different tryscorers in the cup last week, I'm sticking with the champions to edge a physical opener here.

Josh Charnley anytime tryscorer @ 9/4

Although I'm backing Wigan to come through this one, I fancy Leigh to score a couple and the value is with the Leopards in the scorer market. You can expect Liam Marshall to score because he always does for Wigan, but only three Super League players - one of them being top scorer Marshall - scored more tries than Josh Charnley last year.

The new-look Leopards may not yet have found their first-choice line-up but you would be surprised if Charnley - even at the ripe old age of 33 - was not in the scoring mix again throughout 2025.

At 9/4 to score at any time against his former club, I'm happy to take my chances.

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