Premiership: Anthony Watson and Jasper Wiese back for Leicester Tigers while Henry Arundell returns via bench for London Irish

Adam Kyriacou

The teams have been named for this weekend’s Premiership games, including the East Midlands derby between Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints at Welford Road on Saturday.

Check out the teams and our predictions for all of the matches, here.

Friday

Sale Sharks v Bath

Form: Sale Sharks only defeat in their last five Premiership Rugby fixtures was 14-20 at Newcastle on 23 December. The Sharks have lost just once at home in Premiership Rugby since 1 April: 13-29 to Harlequins on 23 October. Bath Rugby have lost just two of their last six Premiership Rugby encounters, at home to Harlequins in Round 12 and away at Exeter in Round 13. Bath have won only three times away from home in Premiership Rugby since February 2021 and all were at Kingston Park against Newcastle Falcons. The Sharks are unbeaten in their last four clashes with Bath since the South-Westerners 27-22 victory at Salford City Stadium in February 2021. Bath have won on two of their last three visits to Salford.

Prediction: Sale by 5

The teams:

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Sam James, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 Josh Beaumont, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Alex Groves, 20 Rouban Birch, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Luke James, 23 Arron Reed

Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Butt, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Miles Reid, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Josh McNally, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Valeriy Morozov
Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Fergus Lee-Warner, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Sam Underhill

Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce, Peter Allan
TMO: Tom Foley

Saturday

Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints

Form: Leicester Tigers have lost their last two Premiership Rugby matches and have not lost three in a row in the competition since May 2021. The Tigers have lost just one of their last 17 home games in Premiership Rugby: 16-26 to Sale Sharks on 8 October. Northampton Saints‘ only victory in their last four Premiership Rugby matches was 46-17 at home to Harlequins in Round 14. Northampton have won only once away from home in Premiership Rugby since April: 40-36 against Wasps in Coventry on 9 October. Leicester have lost just once to Northampton since November 2019: 18-23 at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in April 2021. The Saints have won on four of their last seven visits to Welford Road in all tournaments.

Prediction: Leicester by 3

The teams:

Leicester: 15 Freddie Burns, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Guy Porter, 11 Harry Potter, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Sam Edwards, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg (c), 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 James Whitcombe
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Tom West, 18 Dan Richardson, 19 George Martin, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Harry Simmons

Northampton: 15 James Ramm, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 George Furbank (c), 9 Tom James, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Aaron Hinkley, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 Karl Wilkins, 21 Sam Graham, 22 Callum Braley, 23 Tom Litchfield

Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 14:00 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Jack Makepeace, Wayne Falla
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Saracens v Bristol Bears

Form: Saracens’ only defeat so far in Premiership Rugby this campaign was 20-29 at London Irish in Round 13. Saracens have won their last 13 home games in Premiership Rugby since Gloucester beat them by a single point at StoneX Stadium on January 8, 2022. Bristol Bears’ only win in Premiership Rugby since Round Three was 15-12 at Harlequins on December 27. The Bears have won only three of their last 19 away games in the competition. Saracens have lost just two of their last dozen encounters with Bristol in Premiership Rugby, both at Ashton Gate in 2019 and 2020. Bristol have lost on all three previous visits to StoneX Stadium.

Prediction: Saracens by 8

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Rotimi Segun, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Manu Vunipola, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray (c), 6 Andy Christie, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Andrew Kitchener, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Robin Hislop
Replacements: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Cameron Boon, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Francois Hougaard

Bristol: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Jonathan Benz-Salomon, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Fitz Harding, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Jack Bates

Venue: StoneX Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant Referees: Simon Harding, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester

Form: Exeter Chiefs’ last seven matches in Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day. The Chiefs have lost only once at Sandy Park in Premiership Rugby since last March: 20-22 to Saracens on 22 October. Gloucester Rugby have won just two of their last seven Premiership Rugby matches, but those two victories have both been in the space of the last four rounds. Gloucester have won only twice away from home in Premiership Rugby since the end of last January, in successive matches in October at Bath and at London Irish. Gloucester beat Exeter 38-22 at Kingsholm in Round Eight and have never achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over the Devonians. Gloucester have not beaten Exeter at Sandy Park in Premiership Rugby since January 2015 however they were victorious at the venue in the European Champions Cup in December 2018.

Prediction: Exeter by 7

The teams:

Exeter: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Sam Maunder, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 James Kenny, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Jack Dunne, 20 Aidon Davis, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Rory O’Loughlin

Gloucester: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Billy Twelvetrees, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Cam Jordan, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Tom Seabrook, 23 Lloyd Evans

Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 16:30 GMT
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Phil Watters
TMO: David Rose

Sunday

London Irish v Harlequins

Form: London Irish have lost just once in their last four Premiership Rugby fixtures: 6-8 at Gloucester on New Year’s Eve. The Exiles have won their last three home games at Gtech Community Stadium in Premiership Rugby since Gloucester beat them there by a solitary point on October 21. Harlequins have slipped to three straight Premiership Rugby defeats since beating Bath at the Recreation Ground in early December and have not lost four in succession in the competition since 2019. Harlequins have won two of their last three away games in Premiership Rugby. Harlequins’ only defeat in their last six encounters with London Irish in Premiership Rugby was 19-22 at the Twickenham Stoop in November 2021. Harlequins have won on both of their previous visits to Brentford in Premiership Rugby.

Prediction: London Irish by 4

The teams:

London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Michael Dykes, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 8 Chandler Cunningham-South, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Matt Rogerson (c), 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Joe Powell, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Henry Arundell

Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Nick David, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Danny Care, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Will Evans, 6 Stephan Lewies (c), 5 Irne Herbst, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 George Head, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Jack Musk, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 James Chisholm, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Will Edwards, 23 Lennox Anyanwu

Venue: Gtech Community Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant Referees: Jordan Way (Australia), Joe James (England)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

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