When’s it on?
Thursday March 6, at 8.00pm. It will be televised on Sky Sports 1.
What’s going to happen?
It’s anyone’s guess really. At the start of the season you would probably have tipped the Red Devils to turn the Vikings over, but Salford were thrashed by St Helens last week while Widnes came from behind to defeat last year’s league leaders Huddersfield. It goes without saying that Widnes will be in better spirits but you can’t help but think Salford have more quality on paper. It’s going to be a close one, there’s no doubting that, but if we had to put money on it we’d go for Widnes.
What do the bookies think?
The bookmakers unanimously fancy Widnes to maintain their unbeaten start to the season. They are 4/7 across the board while Salford are 11/8.
Rhys Hanbury (pictured) is favourite to score first at 10/1, with Danny Williams and Jack Owens second at 11/1.
Who’s playing?
Only Salford have announced their 19-man squad, which is as follows: 1 Jake Mullaney, 2 Danny Williams, 3 Martin Gleeson, 4 Junior Sau, 7 Tim Smith, 8 Adrian Morley, 9 Tommy Lee, 10 Lama Tasi, 11 Tony Puletua, 13 Harrison Hanson, 14 Theo Fages, 16 Andrew Dixon, 17 Shannon Mcpherson, 18 Steve Rapira, 19 Matty Ashurst, 20 Adam Walne, 22 Jason Walton, 23 Greg Johnson, 24 Stuart Howarth.
What do the stats say?
Widnes’ Joe Mellor scored tries in all three of the Vikings’ 2013 meetings with Salford as follows: 1-3-2.
Last ten meetings:
Salford 4, Widnes 24 (SLR27, 6/9/13)
Salford 28, Widnes 22 (SLR16, 26/5/13)
Widnes 58, Salford 24 (SLR11, 7/4/13)
Salford 8, Widnes 46 (SLR21, 20/7/12)
Widnes 18, Salford 38 (SLR3, 19/2/12)
Widnes 20, Salford 18 (NL1R10, 19/6/08)
Salford 16, Widnes 16 (NL1R4, 11/4/08)
Salford 34, Widnes 16 (SLR20, 8/7/05)
Widnes 6, Salford 22 (SLR10, 17/4/05)
Salford 14, Widnes 13 (SLR23, 14/8/04)
Super League summary
Widnes won 5
Salford won 8
Widnes highest score: 58-24 (H, 2013) (Widest margin: 46-8, A, 2012)
Salford highest score: 38-18 (A, 2012) (also widest margin)
