Check out our Zurich Premiership Betting previews as London Irish and Bath meet in a match re arranged with Bath's involvement in the Powergen Cup Final.
ZURICH PREMIERSHIP
Sunday 24th April 3pm
London Irish v Bath
The only Zurich Premiership match this weekend sees London Irish, still deep in the relegation fight, take on a Bath side, smarting from their surprise defeat in the Powergen Cup Final last Saturday.
London Irish had an excellent win at Harlequins last time out, but because of results elsewhere, they are still fighting against the other four clubs to avoid the drop to National One. The win at the Stoop was quite a surprise as they had only won one of their previous nine matches in the Zurich Premiership. It is so tight at the bottom, London Irish are ninth in the league trailing Northampton by one point, level on points with Worcester, one point ahead of Harlequins and three in front of Leeds, any one of these five teams could go down. After the Bath game, London Irish finish their programme with an away trip to Newcastle. They have played 10 matches at home this season and won four.
Bath lost a Powergen Cup Final for the first time in 11 appearances on Saturday when they were deservedly beaten 20-12 by Leeds Tykes. They were strong favourites to win the cup against the team presently occupying bottom place in the Zurich Premiership, but despite monopolising possession in the second half they rarely threatened the Leeds line. They have won their last three matches in the league and moved into the top three for the first time this season after beating Northampton. If they win on Sunday they will claim back third spot from Sale. Bath have played 10 matches away from home this season, winning six, drawing one, and losing at Northampton, Gloucester and Sale.
Both sides are desperate for points for different reasons. London Irish have an awful record against Bath. Since 1996, they have only beaten them twice, in 1999 and 2002, from 17 meetings. Bath have won six from eight away from home and are tipped to win again on Sunday.
Prediction: Bath to win by 8 points.
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