Penrith Panthers vs Wests Tigers Prediction: Panthers to return to winning ways

In week 8 action of the 2024 NRL season, the Penrith Panthers will play host to Wests Tigers at the Carrington Park. Ahead of this game, the two sides are off a defeat in their last league game. How will this one end?

Penrith Panthers will see this game as revenge as they lost the last encounter of this fixture the previous season in an 8-12 game. Penrith Panthers, however, have experienced a mixed start to 2024, coming into this contest with a 3-2 record and losing Nathan Cleary to injury. In the meantime, Penrith Panthers are coming off a bye week courtesy of a defeat at the hands of the Manly Sea Eagles. However, prior encounters to that loss did see the Penrith Panthers win three consecutive games, coming against the Parramatta Eels, Brisbane Broncos, and the Sydney Roosters.

Wests Tigers are off a back-to-back defeat against the Dolphins and the St. George Illawarra Dragons, and coming here, they will look to turn things around. Having played five games already this season, Wests Tigers have two wins as they also lost one other encounter to the Canberra Raiders. In the meantime, their wins this season have come against the Cronulla Sharks and the Parramatta Eels in games that ended 32-6 and 16-17, respectively.

Going into this game, Brent Naden will play his first game of the season here, while Solomona Faataape is out of the traveling squad. Lachlan Galvin is back from suspension, but Jayden Sullivan has been left out of the team, with Latu Fainu named as the utility and Jake Simpkin the backup in the reserves.

Panthers have had enough time to rest, and we can expect their players to be at their full strength. On the other hand, the Wests Tigers keep struggling, and their defense has been weak also. I do not see the Tigers stopping Penrith Panthers here; hence, a -13 win handicap for the hosts is a good one, with total points expected to be low.