Northampton Saints vs Leicester Tigers Prediction: Saints for the bragging rights

It’s rarely dull when Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers go head-to-head and more fireworks are expected on Friday night when these great rivals meet at Franklin’s Gardens in the Gallagher Premiership.

Alex Jack provides his best bets in his Northampton Saints vs Leicester Tigers prediction piece, as well as all the essential team news and match odds for the showdown in the East Midlands.

Rugby Union Odds

Team News

Starting with Saints, Phil Dowson has gone with Emmanuel Iyogun, Curtis Langdon and Trevor Davison in the front row, with locks Temo Mayanavanua and Tom Lockett in behind.

Josh Kemeny, Tom Pearson and Juarno Augustus make up the back row, with Fin Smith returning from a successful Six Nations campaign with England to start at fly-half outside scrum-half Tom James.

Rory Hutchinson and skipper Fraser Dingwall line up in the centres, with a back three of Tom Seabrook, James Ramm and George Hendy completing the back division.

As for Leicester, the Tigers go with Nicky Smith, skipper Julian Montoya and Joe Heyes in the front row, with Cameron Henderson and Harry Wells in the engine room.

Hanro Liebenberg, Tommy Reffell and Olly Cracknell form the back row, with Jack van Poortvliet and Handre Pollard in the half-backs.

Joseph Woodward and Solomone Kata start in the centres, with Ollie Hassell-Collins, Adam Radwan and Freddie Steward in the back three.

Northampton Saints vs Leicester Tigers Odds

Northampton are the favourites to claim the win and the bragging rights at 2/5, while the Tigers are 2/1 to make the short trip back to Leicester with the victory.

A draw on Friday night is available at 20/1, while Northampton to be leading at both the half-time and full-time whistle is currently 5/6.

Northampton Saints -8 handicap @ 6/5

The return of Smith to the No.10 jersey comes as a massive boost for reigning Premiership champions Northampton ahead of this East Midlands derby.

Smith was impressive during the Six Nations and looks to have made that starting fly-half spot his own, with a possible chance of a British & Irish Lions call-up this summer.

With skipper Dingwall also back in the starting XV, Northampton have a backline that should cause Leicester plenty of problems.

Henry Pollock, who capped off his England debut with a brace of tries against Wales, will look to make an impact off the bench in a game that grabs the attention of the East Midlands.

Leicester do have their own stars returning and they will certainly be no pushovers when they make the trip across the A5199.

However, with Smith pulling the strings at fly-half and with his accuracy from the kicking tee, Northampton fans should be the ones smiling come the full-time whistle on Friday night.

There’s little to choose from between these two sides but Saints, who have won their last two home games against the Tigers, should be able to cover the -8 handicap on offer at The Gardens.

Rugby Union Betting Tips from Betfred Insights