Newcastle Red Bulls vs Bath Prediction: Hosts can keep this competitive

Sunday's sole offering from the Gallagher Premiership has a David and Goliath feel to it, with bottom of the table Newcastle Red Bulls welcoming reigning champions Bath to Kingston Park (15:00, TNT Sports 1). After propping up the standings in each of the last three seasons, Newcastle are in familiar territory after failing to even pick up a bonus point across their opening six games.

The Red Bulls have at least performed well in Europe and will head into this game on the back of Challenge Cup victories over the Lions and Lyon. Bath have made a strong start to their title defence, winning five of their opening six games, but unlike Newcastle they were beaten in Europe last time out, going down 45-34 at Toulon in the Champions Cup. Below you can find my Newcastle Red Bulls vs Bath predictions. 

Rugby Union odds

Team news

Newcastle make eight changes from the team that beat the Lions in the Challenge Cup, including a return at prop for Adam Brocklebank, who is set to make his 100th Gallagher Prem appearance.

Simon Benítez Cruz returns at scrum half, as does wing Oli Spencer, while fit-again centre Sammy Arnold is also back in the fold.

George McGuigan captains the side at hooker, while the Red Bulls' other changes see Seb de Chaves, Amanaki Mafi and last weekend's match winner Murray McCallum come into the starting XV.

Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan has made 10 changes for the trip to the North East, with the likes of Finn Russell, Henry Arundell and Max Ojomoh not even travelling.

Miles Reid will captain the team from Number 8, while there is a 100th appearance in the competition for Josh Bayliss, who starts in the back row,

Wing Louie Hennessey is among the other changes after he grabbed a try from the bench in the defeat to Toulon.

Newcastle Red Bulls vs Bath Odds

Unsurprisingly, Bath are the heavy 1/4 favourites to win this match, with Newcastle priced at 7/1 to cause the surprise of the season to date. The draw is available at 28/1.

Bath players dominate the top of the market when it comes to anytime tryscorers, with wingers Joe Cokanasiga and Hennessey both priced at 4/5.

Newcastle Red Bulls +14 handicap @ 5/4

This looks a mismatch on paper, but Newcastle's confidence will have been boosted by their back-to-back wins in Europe and they have realistic hopes of keeping this competitive, especially with several of Bath's big-name stars remaining at home.

The Red Bulls have lost eight matches on the spin against Bath across all competitions, but they have tended to remain in the recent clashes on home turf, with four of the last five meetings at Kingston Park being won by the visitors but by no more than a 12-point margin.

With Bath's team having a slightly disjointed look about it and a busy run of fixtures to come both domestically in Europe, this represents a great chance for Newcastle to run the Blue, Black and White close, although they are likely to come up short in terms of the final result.

Rugby Union betting tips from Betfred Insights.