Hull FC vs St Helens Prediction: St Helens to show superiority again

Hull FC and St. Helens will square off again on Thursday night at the MKM Stadium, only five days after they met in the Challenge Cup quarterfinals. On Saturday, the Saints advanced to the Cup semifinals with a 32-18 victory on the same field.

Hull's dreams of winning the Challenge Cup for the first time since 2017 were dashed when they were defeated in their game last weekend, but the team is likely to take heart from many parts of their play because they performed so well. The hosts were forced to play the entire second half with only 12 players after Josh Griffin was sent off for challenging the honesty of an official just after the half-time buzzer. Despite playing the entire second half with only 12 players, the hosts nevertheless managed to hold their own against the reigning Super League and global champions until the final moments of the match. St. Helens did pull away with a late flurry, but Hull boss Tony Smith will feel confident that his team can have a better outcome on Thursday as long as they can keep it 13 against 13 this week. St. Helens did pull away with a late flurry. Jake Clifford's participation in this matchup, in which the Black and Whites have already won their previous two matches at the MKM Stadium, will provide an additional confidence boost for the team. Despite this, they have now only won one of their past four matches across all competitions. This includes a loss against the Leigh Centurions by a score of 28-16 in their most recent Super League game. As a result, they are currently in ninth place in the table, six points away from a spot in the playoffs, and also six points behind Thursday's opponents, St. Helens, who have started to find some consistent form following a sluggish start to the season.

St Helens enter the encounter on Thursday riding a winning streak of six games across all competitions, a run that dates back to the time when they were defeated by Catalans Dragons at the beginning of May. St. Helens will play Leigh in the Challenge Cup semi-final the following month, but before that, they have four Super League games to focus on. These games include back-to-back contests against the Warrington Wolves and the Catalans, who are now ranked first and second, respectively. The squad managed by Wellens is now in fifth place in the standings and is only four points away from first place. Furthermore, they have a game in hand over all of the clubs that are close to them. The Saints will travel to the MKM Stadium full of confidence that they can continue their dominance against Hull, which has seen them win the previous 16 head-to-head matchups between the two teams, including eight consecutive victories away from their stadium.

Hull has won 17 games, whereas St. Helens has won 42 games, and there have been 3 draws in the 62 times these teams have faced each other.

St. Helens have added new players to the team that competed and prevailed over the same opponent, Hull FC, over the weekend. A number of players will be unavailable for this match. Griffin is one of those who will not be playing for St. Helens because he was suspended. As a result of injuries sustained in the game on Saturday, Tex Hoy and Scott Taylor will not be able to participate in this game. Additionally, Liam Sutcliffe will not be able to play, while Mitieli Vulikijapani will continue to be sidelined due to injury. Clifford is the most notable player to return after being out over the weekend due to head injury regulations. Will Gardiner, Harvey Barron, and Jamie Shaul are also among the 21 players who have been re-called for the competition. Tommy Makinson, who had a hamstring injury on Saturday, will not be able to play for St. Helens in this match. Additionally, Mark Percival will not be able to participate since he is required to follow the protocols for head injuries and will not be able to play. Ben Davies and Wes Bruines will take their places in the 21-man squad for Thursday's fixture in place of the previously mentioned pair.

This should be a competition to determine who is the better team, and based on how things are shaping up, St. Helens should be able to pull off the victory away from home. Following a slow start to the season, the visiting St. Helens have been showing hints that they are getting back to their best form. However, it is fairly illogical to assume that Hull FC will suffer another defeat in this stadium following their poor showing the previous weekend. In the meantime, despite the fact that I anticipate this to be a challenging contest, I predict that the home team will score at least up to 17 points here, and as St. Helens should win, you should bet on the over.