Leinster vs Sale Prediction: Leinster to sink Sharks in Dublin

Sale Sharks face a daunting task on Saturday (17:30, Premier Sports 1) at the Aviva Stadium, as they take on Leinster in the quarter-finals of the European Rugby Champions Cup.

Alex Jack provides his best bets in his Leinster vs Sale prediction piece, as well as all the essential team news and match odds for the battle in Dublin.

Team news

Leinster go with Alex Usanov, skipper Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong in the front row, with Joe McCarthy and James Ryan in the second row.

Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan complete the pack, while Jamison Gibson-Park and Harry Byrne go again in the half-backs.

Jamie Osborne and Garry Ringrose are the starting centres, while Rieko Ioane, Tommy O’Brien and Hugo Keenan form the back three.

As for the visitors, Sale have a front row of Si McIntyre, Ethan Caine and Asher Opoku-Fordjour, with skipper Ernst van Rhyn and Ben Bamber in the second row.

Jacques Vermeulen, Sam Dugdale and Dan du Preez form the back row, with Gus Warr and George Ford in the half-backs.

Rekeiti Ma’asi-White and Rob du Preez combine in the centres, while the Sharks have a back row of Tom O’Flaherty, Tom Roebuck and Joe Carpenter.

Leinster vs Sale Odds

Leinster are the overwhelming favourites at 1/14 for the win, while Sale Sharks are 7/1 to secure the victory in the 80 minutes.

A draw in Dublin is available at 28/1, while 71 or more points to be scored in Saturday’s game is currently 19/10.

Leinster -27 handicap @ 13/10

Facing one the strongest club sides in the world in their own backyard at the Aviva, Sale’s away record does not make for great reading.

The Sharks have lost 11 of their last 14 away games in all competitions and next they must face a Leinster side who have won 14 of their last 15 home matches.

There looks to be a disparity in class between the two packs and that’s going to make it hard for Sale fly-half George Ford to have the platform to get the Sharks’ wide players into dangerous positions.

Expect Leinster, a team filled with Ireland and British & Irish Lions stars, to be a nuisance at every breakdown to stop Sale building any momentum.

Leinster have a way of suffocating teams on the attack and with the likes of Ioane, O’Brien and Keenan in their own backline, the hosts can post a big score on Saturday.

Sale have already suffered a 77-7 defeat away at Toulouse in this Champions Cup campaign and, while they might not lose by as many in Dublin this weekend, Leinster look capable of falling on the right side of the -27 handicap.

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