Wigan Warriors vs Warrington Wolves prediction: Champs to take Las Vegas by storm
This is one of the oldest and closest club rivalries in rugby league history with the two sides only separated by a 13-mile trip down the M6. They've played each other in 325 matches with the Warriors edging the head-to-head by quite a margin having won 188 times compared to Warrington's 126 victories.
As usual, the two clubs provided two enthralling encounters in the Super League last season with Wigan clinching an 18-19 victory away from home thanks to a Harry Smith drop goal. The Warriors were 12-0 down after 20 minutes in that contest but tries from Junior Nsemba, Liam Marshall and Kruise Leeming, as well as Smith's drop goal sent them into the break 19-12 ahead and Warrington were unable to claw back the deficit.
Things were wildly different in their second meeting as the Wolves romped to a 4-40 at the Brick Community Stadium, running in seven tries, including two each for Arron Lindop and Matty Ashton, as they handed Wigan a first home defeat in 18 matches and earned their biggest Super League winning margin in games against the Warriors.
Much of the pre-season talk has been around Super League heading to Vegas for this week's match-up between Wigan and Warrington with punters able to make use of a range of markets available on betting apps.
Wigan chief executive Kris Radlinski initiated talks with Australia's NRL, who host the games in the United States, and negotiated a deal to have one 'home' game played in Sin City this year. Once that deal was done the only thing left was to choose an opponent and Warrington are the ideal choice.
Head coach Sam Burgess has overseen consecutive wins at the start of this Super League season with a 16-20 away win at Huddersfield Giants quickly followed by a testing 18-12 triumph over Catalan Dragons at home.
In contrast, Wigan kicked off their season with a 0-1 loss at home to Leigh Leopards in a golden point match that signals the dramatic flair embodied by Matty Peet's side. They subsequently found form and smashed Hull FC 4-46 in their last outing.
The clubs are next to each other in the table with Warrington sitting fourth and Wigan fifth and neither will be overawed by the flashing lights of the Vegas strip once the match gets going at the Allegiant Stadium.
Despite this game being played at a neutral venue, rugby betting sites have Wigan as the favourites and you can get 21/50 on a Warriors win from Unibet and BetMGM while BoyleSports are offering a not-too-unreasonable 5/2 on Warrington to triumph in the United States.
Warrington won't be fooled by the task they have in front of them though. Wigan won all four major honours in 2024 alone including the World Club Challenge, the League Leaders' Shield, the Betfred Super League Grand Final and the Betfred Challenge Cup, where they defeated the Wolves in the final at Wembley.
They tend to perform well on the big stage and may want to put on a show in Vegas. As such we're predicting a high scoring outing with the Cherry and Whites coming out on top.
Jai Field to continue good form
With both squads unchanged and injury-free, backing up our thought process is the form of Wigan full-back Jai Field. The Australian performed admirably in the season opener against Leigh but came into his own with a hat-trick of tries in the demolition of Hull FC last time out.
Prices vary on betting sites but you can get decent odds of 8/5 from Bet365 for him to cross the line anytime in the game while the likes of William Hill and BetVictor are offering him at 9/1 to be the first tryscorer.
Alternatively, Warrington's Arran Lindop is in decent touch and Bet365 have him at 15/4 to score at anytime which may be worth a look.
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