Sale vs Exeter Prediction: Sharks to see off Chiefs with a score or more to spare

Bottom club Exeter have endured a miserable campaign and look set for another grindingly frustrating evening away at Sale on Saturday. The Chiefs showed signs of improvement in the Premiership Rugby Cup but are yet to win in the Premiership, and lost 39-21 to Sharks and 64-21 to Toulouse in the Champions Cup.

Sale went down 38-19 at Glasgow, but responded by beating out-of-sorts Racing 92 29-7 and are now unbeaten in nine at home in all competitions. They defeated Leicester 39-25 in their last Premiership home game and, while they may not be the most fluid, Alex Sanderson's solid side can still overcome a significant handicap deficit to win in style.

Match odds - Sale vs Exeter

Sale are 2/13 to win for the 10th straight home game, with Exeter 9/2 to finally get a league victory. The tie is 22/1.

Team news

Sale hand England scrum-half Raffi Quirke his first start of the season following injury, with Guss Warr dropping to the bench.

Prop James Harper falls out of the squad after suffering a head injury against Racing, while Ben Bamber and Tom O'Flaherty are out of the starting XV but are on the bench. Prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour, lock Ernst van Rhyn and wing Aaron Reed start.

Props Scott Sio and Marcus Street return for Exeter, while lock Dafydd Jenkins makes his first start of the season.

Henry Slade continues at fly-half and there is another boost, with Olly Woodburn returning from a hamstring injury to take his place on the wing.

Sale -15 @ 5/4

Home form seems to be the decisive factor in this rivalry. The hosts have won the last five meetings, while Exeter has failed to win on the road in the league since April.

The Chiefs made an encouraging start to last season, adapting well to losing several international stars as they looked to reinvigorate their squad through their academy graduates while staying within the boundaries of any financial restrictions.

Rob Baxter continues to rely on young players, but he has made his disquiet known publicly through the media and his messaging has so far failed to garner a response.

A trip to Salford to face an in-form Sale side looks unlikely to provide any Christmas cheer and a ninth successive league defeat would mark a new club record.

Following his cameo against Toulouse, Jenkins' return from the start will give the pack a lift but, for all his quality, the Sharks' grizzled forwards will take him to task if he is not up to scratch physically.

With wind and rain forecast, Sanderson will expect his big men to control the ball before releasing it to Quirke to snipe around the fringes or offload it to George Ford to put them in good areas and build pressure on the visitors.

Sale's last four home wins have come by margins of 33, 33, 14 and 22 points and they are worth backing at -15 when offered at the right side of evens.

Rugby Union Betting tips from Betfred Insights.