Leicester Tigers vs Northampton Saints Prediction: A lot of exciting plays expected from both sides

When the Leicester Tigers and the Northampton Saints square up against one another in yet another East Midlands Derby in the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday afternoon, they will be competing for the right to call themselves champions of the region. After the first five rounds of play, Leicester is in second-last place in the rankings with six points, while Northampton is in fourth place with 16 points and is riding a fantastic momentum heading into this match.

The Tigers have struggled to replicate the same type of form this term, and they find themselves just four points above the bottom of the table as a result of this. Last year, the Tigers advanced to the semi-finals of this competition. In spite of the fact that they put on a strong performance the week before, Leicester ended up losing to the Harlequins by a score of 29-25. This was their fourth loss in their past five matches and their second loss in a row. However, the Tigers would have been able to take a number of positives away from their performance in that game, despite the fact that the lead changed as many as six times over the course of the game's entire duration of 80 minutes. However, with players returning from international duty and settling back into rhythm, they will likely feel that last week's match was a solid platform to build on over the upcoming weeks. That result also marked Leicester's second home loss of the campaign, following a defeat against Sale Sharks last month by a score of 24-17.

The previous time the Northampton Saints came to Welford Road Stadium, they emerged victorious in a nail-biting 19-18 triumph that took place back in January of this year. That win, however, represented their first victory at this stadium since the 2019 Premiership Rugby Cup, in which they prevailed over their opponent by a score of 31-22. The Saints finished second to the Leicester Tigers the previous season by a single point, but they will come into this matchup with a great deal of confidence after they defeated the Exeter Chiefs 34-19 at Franklin's Gardens the previous weekend. The Northampton Saints got off to a very shaky start in this league, dropping their first two matches. However, since then, they have gone on a three-match winning streak, during which they have won both of their matches against Newcastle and Bath.

Even though Leicester's performance in this competition thus far has not been particularly impressive, the team showed significant growth from the previous week and is eager to build on that success. The Saints will not make things simple for the hosts, but I think the home team will eek out a victory by the skin of their teeth.