Leicester Tigers vs Sale Sharks Prediction: A tough one to pick

At the Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium, the second week of the English Premiership Rugby features a match between the Leicester Tigers and the Sale Sharks. The Tigers have already inflicted a blow to their rivals this season, winning 18-14 in a key Premiership Rugby Cup match that helped earn a place in the last four.

The Leicester Tigers' season started off with a disastrous loss last week when they were defeated by Bristol on the road by a score of 25-14. Hanro Leibenberg not only helped his side win a round-high ten lineouts with their throw, but he also helped his team steal two lineouts from the Bristol Bears. In Round 1, Leicester Tigers won the joint-fewest turnovers (four), although they were responsible for 21 total turnovers, eight more than any other team. There was only one team that made more kicking meters than they did, and that was the Bristol Bears in week one. During their match against the Bristol Bears, the Leicester Tigers passed the ball only 5.7% of the time and had the lowest average distance gained per carry (2.4) of any team.

The classy performance of the Sale Sharks was on display during their week one matchup at home against the Northampton Saints, which they won 201-5. Sale Sharks players were the only ones to make three or more dominant tackles in the first round of the competition. While his colleagues Daniel du Preez, Nick Schonert, Robert du Preez, and Sam Dugdale each made three, Ernst van Rhyn made five field goals for the squad. During the previous season, Gus Warr was the only player who successfully placed more kicks into play than he did. At the end of the previous weekend, a round-high five of his eleven kicks were contestable, and two of them were kept. Sale Sharks were able to hold Northampton Saints to a gainline success percentage that was at the bottom of the league at 26.1%. They did, however, allow a greater number of clean breaks (17) than any other team. Carry domination for the Sharks was only 19.6% against the Northampton Saints, which is lower than all other teams with the exception of one. They also had the second-worst average yards gained per carry, which was 2.8.

Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Sam James, 12. Sam Bedlow, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. Rob du Preez (c), 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Tommy Taylor, 3. Nick Schonert, 4. Cobus Wiese, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Ernst van Rhyn, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Dan du Preez.

Leicester Tigers: 15. Mike Brown, 14. Josh Bassett, 13. Guy Porter, 12. Dan Kelly, 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Jamie Shillcock, 9. Tom Whiteley; 1. Francois van Wyk, 2. Charlie Clare, 3. Joe Heyes, 4. Cameron Henderson, 5. Mike Williams, 6. Hanro Liebenberg (c), 7. Olly Cracknell, 8. Kyle Hatherell

The scores in contests between these two teams are typically very close, and I anticipate that trend to continue this time. The Sale Sharks have always had the upper hand in their previous matchups against Leicester Tigers, but, given that the away team is the underdog on the road, it is difficult to pick them to win today. In the meantime, despite the fact that I do not believe they will lose this match, I do believe that it is worthwhile to back Sale Sharks to cover the spread. In addition, I do not anticipate a significant offensive play in this matchup, and taking into account the results of their most recent contests, this one is almost certainly going to be a low-scoring game.