Northampton Saints vs Exeter Chiefs Prediction: Saints to march past Chiefs

Franklin’s Gardens was a fortress for Northampton Saints last season and the reigning Premiership champions are back on their own patch on Saturday evening when they host the Exeter Chiefs (17:30 kick-off). Northampton started this season with disappointment last weekend, as last term’s Grand Final runners-up Bath got some revenge for their 25-21 defeat to the Saints at Twickenham in May.

Saints will be eager to bounce back from that 38-16 defeat at The Recreation Ground, when they host an Exeter Chiefs side that suffered a 17-14 defeat on home soil at the hands of the Leicester Tigers. It’s more East Midlands opposition for Exeter this weekend and the Chiefs might well be left licking their wounds when they leave the Gardens on Saturday.

Team News

England lock Alex Coles returns for Saints in the second-row, while number eight Juarno Augustus also comes in as the only other change to the pack.

There’s just one alteration in the backline, with Tommy Freeman back on the wing in a lightning-quick back-three that includes James Ramm and skipper George Furbank.

As for Exeter, boss Rob Baxter has moved Richard Capstick to the back-row for Saturday, which opens up a place for lock Christ Tshiunza in the engine room.

Sam Maunder is handed a start at scrum-half alongside fellow half-back Harvey Skinner.

Ben Hammersley misses out as he goes through his return to play protocol from his HIA against the Tigers, so Olly Woodburn comes into the centres alongside Joe Hawkins.

Match Odds

Saints are the heavy 2/11 favourites to claim their first win of the season, while Exeter are 4/1 to head back to Sandy Park with the victory.

A draw on Saturday is available at 22/1, while Northampton with a -14 handicap are currently 11/10.

Northampton Saints win by 1-12 points inclusive @ 2/1

Northampton won their last nine matches on home soil in the league and they should have too much quality again for Exeter this weekend.

Saints have won three of their last four meetings with the Chiefs, including a 42-36 victory at Sandy Park in their last encounter, when Northampton came back from 26-0 down to win on the road.

The Chiefs will try and make life hard for the reigning champions and a Northampton win by 1-12 points inclusive looks to be the way to go here.

Total Points - Between 51 and 60 points inclusive @ 11/4

Games between these two attacking sides are rarely dull and another end-to-end contest can be expected at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday.

No less than 288 points have been scored across the last five Premiership games between these sides at an average of 57.6 points a game.

With that in mind, a total points band of between 51 and 60 points inclusive is worth considering at 11/4.

Rugby Union Betting Tips from Betfred Insights.