Saracens vs Northampton Saints Prediction: Saints can run Sarries close

Saracens seem to be motoring and will be targeting a sixth win on the spin against Northampton on Saturday.

Their slow start while they waited for their World Cup stars to return feels like a thing of the past and a strong performance against the Saints will set them up nicely for next Saturday's trip to South African side Bulls in the European Champions Cup.

Northampton, who head to Glasgow next Friday, are also going well, beating Harlequins 36-33 last weekend to make it four wins out of five.

The Saints lost 38-15 when the two sides met in last season's semi-finals but the home side's selection concerns may give the visitors a chance.

Match Odds

Saracens lead the Match Winner market at 2/13, with Northampton 9/2 to pick up their first away win against Saturday's opponents in the Premiership since 2019. The tie is 25/1.

Although Sarries dominated last season's semi-finals, they have often had to scrape results against the Saints and a home win by 1-12 points inclusive is 21/10.

Team News

Mark McCall has made eight changes from the 39-31 win over Bristol, including Manu Vunipola stepping up at fly-half in place of Owen Farrell, who has a knock, and he will partner Ivan can Zyl in the halves.

Both back-row Juan Martin Gonzalez and centre Lucio Cinti will make their home debuts for the club.

Number eight Sam Graham, fly-half Fin Smith and wing Tom Seabrook all return for the Saints.

Smith's return sees George Furbank move from 10 to 15 and he will captain the side in the absence of Lewis Ludlam.

Handicap 3-Way - Northampton +13 @ 10/11

Saracens grabbed their fifth win of the season last Saturday by beating Bristol but that scoreline was somewhat distorted by Farrell having an off day with the boot, missing six of his attempts at goal.

Sarries ran in seven tries against the Bears, a week after crossing six times in their 38-10 victory at Harlequins and a fortnight since going over seven times in their 50-12 success away in Newcastle, taking their tally of tries for their last three matches to 20.

Northampton also grabbed a try bonus point in last Friday's victory over Quins and despite conceding 33 points against the Londoners, their defence has been so much better in recent weeks.

Saracens are flying and could expose any areas that Saints’ new defence coach Lee Radford is still to address but his team's own attacking talent will give them confidence and the visitors are expected to run their hosts close.

Total Points - Over 53.5 @ 5/6

With Sarries racking up the points and the Saints hardly try-shy, it could be a barnstorming game at the StoneX Stadium.

The last six meetings between the sides in all competitions have featured 53 or more points. The same has also been achieved in two of both sides' last three outings.

With balanced runners all over the pitch and power up front, the points could pile up.