Twelve months on from suffering agony in the final, Saracens will be looking to claim a sixth Premiership title on Saturday, but Sale Sharks will be desperate to deny them.
Saracens were dominant winners of their semi-final against Northampton Saints and topped the table in the regular season while, in their semi-final, Sale overcame Leicester Tigers in a tense affair that was only settled after a late fightback. Let’s see how the bookies rate the two teams.
Here are the latest match odds for Saracens vs Sale Sharks.
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A big crowd is expected at Twickenham for the highlight of the club game in England and the two strongest teams of the year have qualified for the showpiece finale.
For Saracens, this is a project of redemption. They were Premiership champions five times between 2011 and 2019 before a breach of the salary cap regulations prompted their relegation to the RFU Championship. They bounced back and forced their way to last year’s final but entered as underdogs and couldn’t overcome the strong favourites Leicester Tigers.
This year is a different story. They topped the league and then destroyed Northampton Saints 38-15 in the semi-final. Meanwhile, Sale Sharks edged the reigning champions Leicester 21-13 in their semi-final and the results between the two finalists have been tight this season. Saracens won 33-22 at home before Sale exacted a 35-24 revenge in Manchester.
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There are some exciting bets to be placed on Saturday’s encounter. Let’s take a look at three of the best bets you can place.
Sarries are deserved favourites but it might be a tighter call than many are predicting. On the one hand, there are the results in the two matches played between the sides this season – one win apiece. Then there are the memories for Saracens of last year’s defeat – it might motivate them but it might also prompt nerves. Finally, there is the truth that they lost two of their last three regular season matches, the last of them by a scoreline of 61-29. There is enough doubt to believe that the northerners can pinch the title or make for a very exciting final phase.
Saracens are just favoured in this market but it should really be a case of pick ‘em. In their last 10 matches, Saracens have scored the first try five times – but they’ve done so just twice in the last five. Sales, in contrast, have crossed the line first in seven of their last 10 matches – and in three of their last four.
With seven tries for the season, Sean Maitland the New Zealand-born Scot is the second-leading performer for Saracens when it comes to crossing the white line this campaign. But he has also scored in three of the last five matches and grabbed a pair of five-pointers in the semi-final. At the age of 34, he hasn’t got too many big occasions left and he’ll be desperate to make the most of Saturday. He has also revealed that he’s hoping to twist Scottish coach Gregor Townsend’s arm and earn a late call-up to the World Cup squad. A try in front of a big crowd would be the ideal way to do it.
Matt Cooper
Matt Cooper has been a golf journalist for 15 years. He’s worked for, among others, Golf365, SkySports, ESPN, NBC, Sporting Life, Open.com and the Guardian. He specialises in feature writing, reporting and tournament analysis. He’s covered numerous Opens, Ryder Cups and Solheim Cups, and travelled to golfing destinations as varied as Kazakhstan, South Korea, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
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