London Irish vs Newcastle
31st January 1430hrs
Rugby – England – Premiership
Pick Newcastle to win
Bookmaker 22bet
Odds: 8/11 odds taken 04:14 GMT Thursday, 28th January
It has been three games unbeaten for London Irish in all competitions. Can they extend that further on the weekend?
The Exiles get a home game against the Newcastle Falcons who have made an impressive return to the top flight.
Newcastle have dropped only one of their league games this season and immediately responded to that one defeat with a victory in their following game.
They are favourites to get the points from this match on Sunday.
Table of Contents
London Irish Preview – Can the Exiles stop the Falcons?
Once again there has been a difficult Premiership campaign for London Irish who have a W1 D1 L2 record from their completed matches.
They have had two fixtures cancelled already this season, so momentum has been hard to come by.
The last time that they won in the league was on November 29th last year when they beat Leicester.
It is just the three games that London Irish have played at their new home at the Brentford Community Stadium.
It has been a W2 L1 record from them there, beating Leicester in the league and Pau in the European Challenge Cup.
The home defeat in that sequence happened against Sale.
In the match outright for rugby betting in this fixture, the win for London Irish is at 6/5*(odds taken 04:14 GMT Thursday, 28th January).
This is a tricky game for them as the Exiles generally struggle going forward in attack.
On the two occasions they have managed to avoid defeat in the league this season, the Exiles scored at least 20 points.
London Irish are on a three-match losing streak against the Falcons since they beat them back in 2016.
Given the positive start that their opponents have had this season, London Irish are understandably the underdogs.
A London Irish +2.5 handicap is at 19/20 odds* (odds taken 04:14 GMT Thursday, 28th January).
Because the two clubs haven’t met since December 2017, there’s no further recent head to head to dig into.
Newcastle Preview – Falcons to soar to maximum points?
Newcastle have made a wonderfully positive return to the top flight this season with a W 4 L1 record.
The only defeat that they have had this season against the strong-looking Bristol in Round 5 of this season’s campaign.
Newcastle last lost two away games at the end of the 2018/19 Premiership campaign.
So far in this season’s campaign, they have won at Wasps and Bath, while having fallen to Bristol Bears as mentioned.
It hasn’t been an explosive showing of attacking power by the Falcons, so this should be a fairly tight game.
They have quite a pragmatic setup really, closing gaps and keeping things as tight as possible.
A Newcastle -2 handicap for rugby betting is at 10/11* (odds taken 04:14 GMT Thursday, 28th January).
It has been an average of 20 points scored per game by Newcastle in this season’s Premiership campaign.
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Newcastle are the outright favourites for the win in this fixture to the tune of 8/11 in rugby betting odds* (odds taken 04:14 GMT Thursday, 28th January).
That feels about right, because they have held themselves very well, but there has been a little bit of form shown by London Irish.
So if the away win does come up on the weekend, then we imagine it will only be by a narrow margin.
London Irish vs Newcastle Betting Advice
We will start with our longer-priced option for rugby in this fixture which is Newcastle 1-7 winning margin at 5/2* (odds taken 04:14 GMT Thursday, 28th January).
That’s reasonable enough outcome to get too with the Falcons being away from home.
They have done very well this season without scoring heavily and are likely to shut down a limited London Irish attack.
Key Facts – London Irish vs Newcastle Betting Tip
- London Irish have lost their last three fixtures against Newcastle
- London Irish are W2 L1 in their three matches played at their new home this season (all competitions)
- Newcastle are W 4 L1 in this season’s Premiership
It has been a three-match unbeaten streak of form by London Irish in all competitions. That’s been excellent.
They deserve credit for playing out a draw at Harlequins in their last league fixture.
But we just think that Newcastle outworks them on that day.
So the Newcastle -2 handicap at 10/11 does it* (odds taken 04:14 GMT Thursday, 28th January).
The best betting odds for London Irish vs Newcastle
London Irish to win: 13/10 at Bet365
Draw: 28/1 at Bet365
Newcastle to win: 13/17 at Bet365
