NRL Betting: Over 43.5 points looks the bet between Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles and Canberra Raiders

Recommended bet: Over 43.5 points @ (1.91) with bet365

Canberra Raiders travel to the Brookvale Oval, Sydney to face Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles on Saturday afternoon looking for the victory that would maintain their late push for a surprising Top 2 finish in the regular season.

After four straight victories, Manly have now lost three on the spin to leave them down in 12th place in the NRL Premiership.  As a result there’s now nothing left for the Sea Eagles to play for besides pride at this stage of the season.

The Raiders are very much the current form team of the NRL, with the 28-18 win over Parramatta Eels at the Canberra Stadium being their eighth consecutive victory.

The head-to-head record clearly favours the Sea Eagles, with them having won 30 of the previous 50 meetings, including six of the last eight.  However, it was Canberra who came out on top when the pair last met, winning 30-18 in Round 13 at the Canberra Stadium.

In terms of team news, Sea Eagles club legend Jamie Lyon will miss out on a farewell in front of his own fans after suffering a hamstring injury that has prematurely ended his career.  On the plus side, they do welcome Dylan Walker and Api Koroisau back into the fold, but winger Brad Parker is out.

Josh Hodgson returns at hooker for the Raiders and they also welcome back Edrick Lee in place of Brenko Lee.  Paul Vaughan comes in at prop for Junior Paulo. 

Everything points to another win for the Raiders here and backing them to overturn an 8.5 points Handicap at a general 10/11 (1.91) has a certain appeal.  Even so, the market to look at here could be the Overs on the points.  The last five meetings between Sea Eagles and Raiders have all seen over 45 points.  

Added to that, Canberra Raiders are the top points scorers in the NRL Premiership this season, although they do shed a few points themselves at the other end.   For their part, Manly went down 38-18 at home to table-topping Melbourne Storm last time out.  Something along similar lines could be on the cards here.