It is that time of the week again when 'Orrible Punt sits down in the Planet Rugby hot-seat to give you his calls. The Premiership is back!
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Wasps have won 7/7 league games on their own patch by an average score of 26-16 and led at half time in 6 of them. That record is important, given they have only won 2 of their last 17 away.
They now have successive home matches against Saints, Saracens as well as Leinster in the Amlin Cup - a run that will define how successful their season is going to be.
Wasps have won 15/21 games at home to Saints by 24-16 but lost the last 2 and 6 straight at all venues by 9-28. They've also only scored 4 tries in last 8 games against this opposition.
Saints have lost 18/22 games against top 4 rivals Saracens, Quins, Leicester and Gloucester but won 21/22 against other sides.
While Wasps have a number of youngsters looking for International recognition, the Northampton team contains a few currently out of favour and looking to make a point.
A couple of trends from this fixture are that the last 7 have seen the first half as highest scoring and that Saints have outscored Wasps 2nd half in the last 9. I am playing it simple though and backing the home win, currently available at 1.72.
Saracens have won 11/13 league games since an (at the time) under pressure Owen Farrell won a kicking duel with Nick Evans in Round 5. They have also won 6 of the last 7 games against Quins by an average of 22-15.
A trend I have noted recently is that each of the current top 3 has a superior record away against their title rivals than at home. Taking a sample of 8 games for each, Quins have won 2/8 at home to Leicester and Saracens and 4/8 away. For Tigers it's 2/8 victories at home against Sarries and the reigning champs and 3 wins and a draw away, while for the Fez Boys - it's 4/8 at home and 6/8 away.
The visitors won 16/17 games in all competitions after a loss to Exeter in Round 6 and will be hoping that recent defeat to the Chiefs sparks a similar run. They've certainly upped a gear since that 16-27 performance at the Stoop and should be full of confidence after winning the LV=Cup last weekend.
I think +5 is pretty generous for Harlequins and am on it. There have been 9 cards shown in the last 7 meetings and 5 in last 2. Referee Garner has dished out 7 in the last 5 Quins matches he has officiated , 8 in 7 Saracens games and 3 in this exact fixture last season so keep an eye on the total cards market.
It's 24.9 for Payne, Fenby and Dagg to score this weekend and 12.96 for a Tapuai / Mogg double.
A multiple of Ulster, Cheetahs, London Irish, Leicester, Stormers and Blues is 19.4.
Mogg has scored 1st try in 3 of 4 games this season so the 12.0 for him to continue that record is appealing while 7 of Care's 9 tries this season have been the first in the match for his side, so will be looking to back that too.
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