Munster vs Leinster Prediction: A crucial fixture for the two teams

Thomond Park will host the round nine of the United Rugby Championship encounter between Munster and Leinster. The two teams pulled off strong results in their last league games and will hope to be at their best once again. Which side gets things right? Below, I will look into the previews of this game and offer solid betting options. 

Munster

Munster continued from where they stopped in the league with a 19-22 win over Ulster. In that game, this team needed a better second-half performance, having gone behind by two goals in the first half, winning 12-17. 

In the meantime, prior encounters saw Munster lose to Castres Olympique in the European Champions Cup, which ended 33-7, even though they started their campaign with a win over Stade Francais Paris. 

In their last games, Munster won three games, defeating the Lions in one other game. However, other encounters saw this team face defeats against Stormers, Leinster, Sharks, and New Zealand A. In their last home matches, Munster won four games, defeating Lions, Ospreys, and Connacht in that run. In fact, their lone defeat in that run was in a friendly encounter against New Zealand A. 

This season, Munster have 21 points from their eight matches played. In that run, Munster scored 185 while conceding 205, leaving them seated in the 6th spot. 

Leinster

Leinster are coming off a league game against Connacht in which they won 20-12. In that encounter, Leinster needed a very solid first-half performance to secure a win, ending 14-0. However, they lost 6-12 in the second half, but that was not enough to deny them maximum points. 

In the meantime, Leinster are on an incredible run of matches which saw them win their last 12 games across all competitions. This team defeated Edinburgh, Dragons, Munster, Connacht, Bristol, Clermont, Benetton, Lions and Ulster in that run. In their last away matches, Leinster have consecutive wins of ten games, with their last defeat coming against Bulls in the middle of June. 

This season, Leinster have 38 points from eight matches, scoring 232 goals while conceding 104. Leinster are six points ahead of their closest rivals, Glasgow Warriors, at the top of the standings. 

Head-Head Statistics

Munster won one in their last five matches, while Leinster won four. In that run, we witnessed less than 40 goals. Munster's lone win in recent times have come away from home. 

Expert Betting Tips

Despite being on the road, Leinster remains everytime favourite, and I expect them to be the better side once again. While Munster have had good performances this season and also turned on strong performances on big days, I feel this is one of the matches you lose honourably, even though I expect them to be a challenging opponent for Leinster. While looking at Leinster's run and how dominant they have been lately, I see nothing but a margin win for Leinster, a game that should end with few goals.