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Leinster v Northampton Odds: Irish side are hot favourites in the final betting

Leinster are odds on favourites for Saturday's Heineken Cup final with Northampton at the Millennium Stadium as the Irish side look to win Europe's premier competition for a second time. The 2009 champions are 4/11 on with William Hill bookmakers, while Northampton go in as 12/5 underdogs despite going through the European season unbeaten.

There are concerns over the fitness of Brian O'Driscoll ahead of the sixteenth Heineken Cup final but the Leinster star is expected to take his place and his side look well set to build on a run of form that has seen them win 16 of their last 18 matches in all competitions. Their only defeat in Europe this season came against a very strong Clermont side and it is well worth remembering how they overwhelmed Aviva Premiership finalists Leicester at the quarter-final stage.

Leinster's greater experience could well prove crucial against a young Northampton Saints and they certainly hold the edge with two wins from two meetings against their English opponents. Those two matches witnessed nine tries in total and a look at the try odds in this weekend's match could provide some real value.

The first try scorer market is always popular with punters and Saturday's match boasts two of the tournament's leading try scorers. Leinster's Sean O'Brien has scored four tries and has been one of the, if not the, stand out players of the tournament and at industry best priced odds of 18/1 with WilliamHill.com he could be well worth a look to strike first. Saints' Paul Diggin meanwhile is the competition's top try scorer with six and is available at 14/1, while England's Six Nations star Chris Ashton is a 10/1 punt.

Of more concern for Northampton will be a player who is absent on Saturday as Tom Wood has been ruled out with injury and he is likely to be a huge loss to a team that is unbeaten in eight matches in the Heineken Cup. They are bidding to become the first side ever to go through a Heineken Cup season unbeaten, although doubts have been raised over the quality of opposition they have had to overcome.

Leinster will be a different kettle of fish this weekend and with the handicap market set at six points, it could be well worth backing Leinster to win with -6 points at 10/11.

Meanwhile, Northampton were last champions of Europe back in 2000 and they have a young squad, so it is very possible that they could take a while to get into the match and we fancy the look of Saturday's first scoring play being a Leinster penalty at odds of 13/8.

A run of eight wins from ten in all competitions is impressive for the Saints, although they again showed naivety in losing out to Leicester in the Aviva Premiership play-offs last weekend and they could well fall short again.

The Leinster win by 1-12 points can be backed at 11/10 which could cover plenty of bases, while a more specific 6-10 point win looks very tempting at odds of 9/2 as the hugely impressive and experienced Irish contenders look to reclaim their European crown.

Leinster v Northampton Tips

Tip #1: Leinster to win with a handicap of -6 points @ 10/11 with WilliamHill.com
Tip #2: Sean O'Brien to score the first try @ 18/1 with WilliamHill.com
Tip #3: First scoring play of the match to be a Leinster penalty @ 13/8 with WilliamHill.com

Leinster v Northampton Odds

Match Betting

4/11 Leinster
20/1 Draw
12/5 Northampton

Handicap Odds

10/11 Leinster -6 points
10/11 Northampton +6 points
16/1 Draw

First Try Scorer Odds

10/1 Chris Ashton
10/1 Luke Fitzgerald
10/1 Isa Nacewa
10/1 Shane Horgan
14/1 Paul Diggin
14/1 Ben Foden
16/1 Jon Clarke
16/1 Jamie Heaslip
16/1 No Try Scorer
18/1 Sean O'Brien
18/1 Gordon D'Arcy
20/1 BAR

Winning Margin Odds

4/1 Leinster by 1-5 points
9/2 Leinster by 6-10 points
13/2 Leinster by 11-15 points
9/1 Leinster by 16-20 points
11/2 Northampton by 1-5 points
8/1 Northampton by 6-10 points
16/1 Northampton by 11-15 points
25/1 Northampton by 16-20 points

Odds supplied by WilliamHill.com, who provide a variety of betting markets for the 2011 Heineken Cup final, including live betting in-running.

Posted: Friday, 20th May 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: heineken cup, leinster, northampton, chris ashton, william hill,

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