After the razzmatazz of opening night at the Leigh Sports Village, the Leigh Leopards have a huge task on on Saturday as they attempt to get their first win of the Betfred Super League campaign away to Catalans Dragons.
Steve McNamara's injury-hit side were busy beating Wakefield Trinity while the Leopards were losing on opening night to Salford Red Devils, giving them the perfect start to 2023.
Here's everything you need to know about Saturday's clash.
Catalans Dragons v Leigh Leopards
Where: Stade Gilbert Brutus, Perpignan.
When: 5.00pm (GMT), 6:00pm (local)
TV: No live screening
Catalans' last five: Won 38-24 @ Wakefield (Rd 1), Lost 10-20 v Leeds (2022 eliminator), Lost 4-48 @ Wigan (Rd 27, 2022), Won 32-18 v Leeds (Rd 26, 2022), Won 24-14 @ Toulouse (Rd 25, 2022)
Leigh's last five: Lost 10-20 v Salford (Rd 1), Lost 24-42 @ Huddersfield (Rd 25, 2021), Won 26-18 v Wakefield (Rd 24, 2021), Lost 6-44 v Hull KR (Rd 23, 2021), Lost 0-64 @ Catalans (Rd 22, 2021)
Betfred match winner odds (80 minutes): Catalans 2/11, Leigh 4/1, draw 25/1
First try scorer odds: Tom Johnstone (Catalans) 6/1, Tom Davies (Catalans) 7/1, Mathieu Laguerre (Catalans) 10/1, Tanguy Zenon (Catalans) 12/1, Sam Tomkins (Catalans) 12/1
Milestones:
Catalans' Fouad Yaha needs one more appearances to reach 150 with the Dragons, while Leigh's Tom Briscoe is one try short of 150 in his Super League career having scored 83 for Hull FC and 66 as a Leeds Rhino.
Previous meetings:
Round 22, 2021: Catalans Dragons 64, Leigh Centurions 0
Round 9, 2021: Leigh Centurions 30, Catalans Dragons 36
Round 20, 2017: Catalans Dragons 40, Leigh Centurions 36
Round 8, 2017: Leigh Centurions 26, Catalans Dragons 37
Total Super League meetings: 4 (Catalans 4, Leigh 0, no draws)
Sam Tomkins comes back into contention for Catalans Dragons having missed out on the round one win over Wakefield, while all eyes will be on finishing machine Tom Johnstone after his hat-trick of tries against his old club at the Be Well Support Stadium. There's no Manu Ma'u in the Dragons' 21-man squad though, meaning at least one change will be need in the Catalans pack, while there's still no Siosiua Taukeiaho after he pulled out of the opening match with swelling on his cartilage.
For Leigh, many will be glad to get the off-field glitz to the backs of the minds after last week's 20-10 lost to Salford, but a trip to the south of France will be a daunting proposition all the same. There could be a debut for former Leeds Rhinos front rower Ava Seumanufagai, while Ben Reynolds could be pushing for a start. Lachlam Lam impressed for the Leopards last week, but there will be great pressure on he and Gareth O'Brien to dictate the tempo at the Gilbert Brutus.
Sportsman stat: Leigh have won only 10 of 74 games so far in their Super League history.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
