Leicester vs Bath
22nd August 1400hrs
Rugby – England – Premiership
Pick Bath to win
Bookmaker Paddy Power
Odds: 21/20 odds taken 04:47 GMT, Thursday 20th August
Leicester fell to a loss at Sandy Park against Exeter Chiefs last weekend, something which was kind of expected.
The Tigers are having a fruitless season and are sitting second from bottom.
Bath meanwhile are on the hunt for a top-four finish and did a great job in convincingly beating London Irish at the Rec last weekend.
Table of Contents
Leicester Preview – Can Leicester find some home comfort?
Leicester Tigers are W4 D1 L9 this season, so they aren’t going to instil a lot of confidence in punters.
Were it not for the points deduction for Saracens, Leicester would be in huge relegation trouble.
Last weekend they hit the road to face league leaders Exeter Chiefs and suffered a 26-13 loss there.
The last time that Leicester had a home game at Welford Road was at the end of February, in which they produced a win over the struggling Worcester.
That is back to back home successes for the Tigers in the top flight.
So that is some kind of positive for them.
In each of their last three Premiership defeats, Leicester have conceded at least 24 points.
They average about 23 points per game against them on average for this campaign.
Worcester are the only team in the division to have scored fewer tries than Leicester have done this season.
The Tigers have only managed 21, leaving them as the second-lowest points scorers overall.
When you stack that up against the 29 tries that Both Have tallied this season, you can see where the problems are likely to be for Leicester.
The Tigers go into this home fixture though as the 5/6 odds-on favourites, which may not have too much appeal* (odds taken 04:47 GMT, Thursday 20th August).
Bath Preview – Bath to target success at Welford Road
Bath have won the last three on the spin against Leicester in the Premiership.
Earlier this year when they met at the Rec on January 25th, Bath collected a narrow 13-30 victory.
Three of Bath’s last four wins over Leicester have been by a margin of no more than three points.
So a Bath+1 handicap for this one at 10/11 looks a pretty solid option to us* (odds taken 04:47 GMT, Thursday 20th August).
Bath hold a W8 L6 record for this campaign, but they are the lowest-scoring side in the top eight.
They are averaging 19 points per fixture so you stack that up against Leicester’s average points conceded and you sort of get a picture of this being a tight game.
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Bath are W3 L2 in their last five league fixtures and their win over London Rish last weekend saw them avoid falling to a three-match losing streak.
That was a very good 34-17 win over the Exiles that Bath took at the Rec.
But it is worth noting that Bath did claim a narrow win at Worcester in their penultimate away fixture, who are only one place currently above Leicester in the standings.
The West Country club have also won their last two visits to Welford Road so we think there is value in looking at the away win.
Leicester vs Bath Betting Advice
We see enough in the challenge of Bath to go and support them to get the win, and the match outright offers positive odds-against value on them to do so at 21/20* (odds taken 04:47 GMT, Thursday 20th August).
We expect this to be very tight. Bath’s win at Worcester was only by a point and we have mentioned their narrow margins of success against the Tigers in recent meetings.
Key Facts – Leicester vs Bath Betting Tip
- Leicester have lost 3 of their last 4 league games
- Leicester have won only one of their last 5 against Bath
- Bath have won their last 2 league away games at Leicester
Leicester just look a little light in attack and that is why we think Bath can scrape themselves over the line for the win.
That would be a win which keeps them in top-four contention so they have everything to turn up and play for.
With them having won their last two at Welford Road against Leicester we are backing the visitors.
The best betting odds for Leicester vs Bath
Leicester to win: 12/1 at Bet365
Draw: 13/5 at Bet365
Bath to win: 10/11 at Bet365
