Rugby League - Vikings can keep Thursday night's clash competitive

RUGBY LEAGUE fanatic Andrew Day (@AndyDay81) earmarks his standout Super League selection from Thursday night's action.

Widnes Vikings v Hull FC | Thursday 12th April 2018, 19:45

Widnes Vikings come into this one off the back of three defeats to Warrington, St Helens and most recently a 31–12 loss to Hull KR. Those defeats leave Dennis Betts’ men in eighth in the Super League – only two points above rock-bottom Catalan Dragons.

Despite their wretched recent run, the Vikings are a different animal when playing at their home ground – the Halton Stadium. They have won three of their five contests as hosts this season, including the impressive scalp of last year’s Grand Final winners Leeds.

This home form will be imperative if Widnes are to prove wrong those who predicted relegation pre-season and Betts has cause for optimism they can continue their good form when taking into consideration Hull’s away record in 2018.

The Airlie Birds sit sixth after an impressive Easter period – a run of three wins on the bounce – although that streak was ended last weekend by league leaders St Helens. The visitors have won five fixtures this season, however only one of those has come away from the KC Stadium.

Defeats to Wigan (albeit in Australia), Castleford, Leeds, Salford and most recently Saints has shown a weakness that Lee Radford and his side will need to put right if they are to trouble their rivals for a top four place.

The betting verdict

These sides met twice last season with Hull winning on both occasions at an aggregate score of 65–34. This included their last visit to the Halton Stadium, where two Jamie Shaul tries gave them a hard fought 33–22 victory.

So far this season, Hull have conceded an average of 24 points per-game on their travels and when compared to Widnes’ average score of 19.8 points on home soil, the +10.5 head start afforded to the Vikings seems very generous.