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Northampton v Perpignan Odds: Betting makes unbeaten Saints favourites for semi final

A bruising encounter looks set to be in store when Northampton Saints take on Perpignan in their Heineken Cup semi-final on Sunday. Home advantage looks to be key for Saints at Stadium MK and they go in as 1/2 favourites according to Bet 365 bookmakers, while Perpignan are a slightly short looking 13/8, and the draw can be backed at 20/1.

Saints have been prolific in Europe this season and the former champions are set to appear in their third Heineken Cup semi-final. They went unbeaten throughout the Pool stages to make themselves top seeds and they then brushed aside Ulster 23-13 with a dominant forward display at the quarter-final stage. Those seven victories mean they are on track to become the first side to go unbeaten in winning the competition.

The possibility of an unbeaten European season seemed unlikely just a few months ago when they lost seven of eight Aviva Premiership matches during the period when many of their Six Nations stars were away on international duty. Since then though they have recovered to win six of their last seven and are now well positioned in fourth place in the Aviva League table.

A hard fought 26-20 win over London Irish at the weekend has set them up nicely for Perpignan and with so much attacking talent at their disposal they could be on the verge of something special. They boast the tryscoring talents of Heineken Cup top tryscorer Paul Diggin, with six tries, as well as international stars Chris Ashton and Chris Wood, and the first scoring play to be a try looks very tempting at odds of 9/2 with Bet365.

It is Northampton's first last four appearance since 2007 but they hold the edge over Perpignan after hammering them 34-0 at home in the Pool stages of last year's campaign and it will be a trip that could well fill the French Top 14 side with dread. Saints certainly look like they could be worth a punt with a handicap of -5 points at odds of 10/11 with B365.com.

Perpignan have been impressive in Europe this season but their last visit to Northampton will have done little for confidence and they arrive in England on the back of a 43-12 hammering at the hands of Toulon in the French league. It is ironic as they had beaten Toulon in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals a few weeks before and on current form the Saints win by a margin of 6-10 points this weekend looks tempting at odds of 5/1.

The French side were beaten finalists in 2003 and are making their third semi-final appearance in the competition, but they could struggle to go any further this year with the odds for Saints not to trail in the match available at 5/2 with Bet365.

Indeed Perpignan are the only side left in the competition not to have won the trophy before and having lost two of their last four in all competitions we fancy Northampton will prove too strong again, with the odds of a team winning both halves currently priced 6/5 and Saints look well capable of doing just that.

Northampton v Perpignan Tips

Tip #1: First scoring play to be a try @ 9/2 with Bet365.com
Tip #2: Northampton not to trail in the match @ 5/2 with Bet365.com
Tip #3: Northampton to win by 6-10 points @ 5/1 with Bet365.com

Northampton v Perpignan Odds

Match Betting

1/2 Northampton
20/1 Draw
13/8 Perpignan

Handicap Odds

10/11 Northampton -5 points
10/11 Perpignan -5 points
16/1 Draw

Winning Margin Odds

4/1 Northampton by 1-5 points
5/1 Northampton by 6-10 points
13/2 Northampton by 11-15 points
9/1 Northampton by 16-20 points
5/1 Perpignan by 1-5 points
13/2 Perpignan by 6-10 points
9/1 Perpignan by 11-15 points
14/1 Perpignan by 16-20 points

Odds supplied by Bet365.com, who provide a variety of betting markets for this match and all the weekend's Heineken Cup fixtures.

Posted: Thursday, 28th April 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: heineken cup, northampton saints, perpignan, chris ashton, bet365,

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