Back Sydney Roosters to return to winning ways with narrow win at Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

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Winning Margin – Sydney Roosters to Win by 1-12 points at 21/10 (3.10) with bet365

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs play host to their local rivals, Sydney Roosters, at the ANZ Stadium on Thursday evening.

The Bulldogs registered just their second victory of the campaign to date in winning 27-10 away to North Queensland Cowboys (Johnathan Thurston et al) at their 1300SMILES Stadium last Saturday.

It was the Bulldogs best performance of the season to date and although still only 14th in the Premiership table, they are now just two points below the Roosters up in 6th position.

Prior to this week’s Sydney derby against the Bulldogs, the Roosters went down 26-14 in their local derby at home to the South Sydney Rabbitohs last Thursday at the Allianz Stadium.  Poor handling and poor defence were costly for the Chooks against the Bunnies, with the visitors dominating from the start.

That defeat means that the pre-season title favourites have now lost half of their opening six matches in a season that has already been noted for its inconsistent results across the league.  It’s clearly taking time for the new recruits in Trent Robinson’s team to gel as a unit, although that level of consistency should really start to be apparent by now.

The teams have already met once this season, with the Roosters running out 30-12 victors’ at the Allianz Stadium in Game week 2 barely a month ago.  The Roosters also had the better of things in a couple of closely fought games between the two teams last season, winning 28-24 at the Allianz Stadium and 24-18 at the ANZ Stadium.

Another fiercely contested encounter with little to choose between the teams would appear highly likely on Thursday evening.  The Roosters, with their multi-talented squad, are understandably favourites and can be backed at a best price of 47/100 (1.47) with bet365 on the match betting, with the Bulldogs at 9/5 (2.80) with Unibet.

In the belief that there isn’t going to be a great deal in this game, but that the Roosters should just shade it, the value could be in backing a Roosters victory of between 1 and 12 points at 21/10 (3.10) with bet365.