Super League preview: Leeds to battle Castleford at Elland Road and there's a Super League debut for Salford Red Devils

Betfred Super League returns on Thursday night as Widnes Vikings host Salford Red Devils at the Halton Stadium.

The rest of the action comes on Friday, with Leeds Rhinos' live Sky Sports clash against Castleford Tigers headlining the bill.

Hull FC will be aiming to bounce back from defeat when they host Catalans Dragons, whilst Warrington Wolves welcome Wakefield Trinity to the Halliwell Jones.

Hull KR face top-of-the-pile St. Helens and Rick Stone's Huddersfield Giants travel to face Wigan Warriors.

Tom Carnduff looks at some of the talking points for this week's action.

Olpherts set for Super League debut

Former Newcastle Thunder winger Derrell Olpherts is poised to make his Super League debut at the age of 26.

Olpherts has been forced to bide his time after joining Salford in the close season but, with a major injury doubt over one of his outside backs, coach Ian Watson has confirmed he will get his big chance against Widnes at the Halton Stadium on Thursday.

"He'll be getting his debut tomorrow so that's a big one for us and a big one for Derrell as well," Watson said.

"We're looking forward to it because we've put quite a lot of work into him and he's doing things really well at the moment.

"He's not a young lad but he's young in terms of Super League experience

"With the maturity he's shown in the off season and during the season waiting for his chance and working hard, I think he'll come in and take it with both hands."

Elsewhere for Salford, Ryan Lannon may also make his first appearance in 2018 for the Red Devils as he was named in the squad.

Widnes can be found at 8/11 to win the clash with home advantage, whilst Salford are 11/10 to secure victory in 80 minutes.

Elland Road set to host West Yorkshire clash

Leeds Rhinos and Castleford Tigers will do battle at Leeds United's Elland Road home on Friday night.

It's the first competitive meeting between these two sides after the Rhinos' Grand Final victory over Castleford back in October.

Brian McDermott has named an unchanged 19-man squad from last week's victory over Hull FC.

The Rhinos are still without Liam Sutcliffe (ankle), Adam Cuthbertson (hand), Stevie Ward (calf), Mitch Garbutt (knee), Brett Ferres (knee), Jimmy Keinhorst (knee) and Nathaniel Peteru (bicep).

Castleford Tigers boss Daryl Powell makes one change to the team who were due to face Wigan Warriors last weekend.

Jy Hitchcox returns to the squad with Jesse Sene-Lefao out with a MCL meniscus injury which could see him side-lined for a number of weeks after undergoing surgery today.

Leeds edge the betting as 8/11 favourites, with Castleford available at 11/10 to get Grand Final revenge.

Castleford have won their last four games against Leeds that have been away from home, and did see off the Rhinos in a pre-season friendly at the Jungle weeks before the season got underway.

Victory would draw the Tigers level with their opponents on points in the table, whilst Leeds can move onto ten points alongside St. Helens with a win.

Wakefield aim to bounce back against Warrington

Wakefield Trinity saw their game against Widnes Vikings abandoned last week after horrendous weather conditions at the Mobile Rocket Stadium.

A snowstorm saw the game called off with Trinity 2-0 up.

Trinity were defeated away at Wigan the week before the Widnes abandonment, and will be eager to get back to winning ways and try to close the two-point gap on St. Helens with the game they have in-hand.

Chris Chester has made two changes have been made to the side that was named to face Widnes Vikings last Saturday. Tinirau Arona and Kyle Wood make way in the squad for James Batchelor and Keegan Hirst.

For Warrington, they snapped a two-game losing run by beating Catalans away last weekend, a strong defensive display saw them win-to-nil.

Steve Price has named new signing Josh Charnley in this week’s 19-man squad after he joined the club this week. Ryan Atkins is also back in the mix in a change to last week’s squad; Dominic Crosby and Morgan Smith drop out.

Warrington sit as 2/5 favourites, but Wakefield may be able to spring an upset and are priced at 2/1 to do so.

Related links

• Sky Bet's Super League odds
• Team-by-team guide