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Leicester Tigers Vs Saracens Teams And Aviva Premiership Match Preview

Leicester Tigers vs Saracens takes place this afternoon in the Aviva Premiership.

The game takes place at Welford Road and is scheduled to start at 13:00 GMT.

Saracens will be going all out for win number six, while Leicester Tigers are outside the play-off positions down in eight with just three wins from six.

Leicester Tigers’ only defeat in their last five matches in all tournaments was at the Scarlets in the European Champions Cup on October 25th.

The Tigers solo defeat in their last 10 Aviva Premiership Rugby matches at Welford Road was to London Irish in round four.

Saracens have lost just once in Aviva Premiership Rugby so far this season – 11-21 at Bath in their most recent away game in the tournament, and have not lost on successive away trips since New Year 2011.

The Tigers have won only one of their last four Premiership Rugby encounters with Saracens since the 2012 semi-final – 31-27 at Welford Road in this equivalent fixture last season.

Saracens have won on four of their last six visits to Leicester.

World Cup winner Brad Thorn will captain Leicester Tigers for the first on Sunday. He leads Tigers in just his fifth appearance for the club, joining England squad member Graham Kitchener in the second row.

Dan Cole starts at prop after making his return from a neck injury in the cup win over Sale Sharks last weekend. He joins Italy international Michele Rizzo and young hooker Harry Thacker in the front row.

In the backline, there is a place for Blaine Scully on his return from international duty with the USA, and Matt Smith joins Anthony Allen at centre. Mathew Tait makes his 50th appearance in a Tigers shirt.

Saracens star Alex Goode returns from England duty to start at fullback and he is joined in the team by wingers Chris Ashton and Davis Strettle.

Duncan Taylor (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
In the midfield Marcelo Bosch comes into the side after his time with Los Pumas, and partners USA international Chris Wyles at centre. Charlie Hodgson starts at fly-half and is joined by Richard Wigglesworth at half-back.

Up front, Richard Barrington, Jamie George and Juan Figallo all start in the front row, with Mouritz Botha packing down alongside Saracens skipper Alistair Hargreaves at lock-forward.

Teams:

Tigers:
15 Mathew Tait
14 Blaine Scully
13 Matt Smith
12 Anthony Allen
11 Miles Benjamin
10 Owen Williams
9 David Mele
1 Michele Rizzo
2 Harry Thacker
3 Dan Cole
4 Brad Thorn (c)
5 Graham Kitchener
6 Jamie Gibson
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
 
Replacements
16 Jake Farnworth
17 Tom Bristow
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Sebastian De Chaves
20 Paul Grant
21 Sam Harrison
22 Freddie Burns
23 Tommy Bell

Saracens:
15. Alex Goode
14. Chris Ashton
13. Marcelo Bosch
12. Chris Wyles
11. David Strettle
10. Charlie Hodgson
9. Richard Wigglesworth
1. Richard Barrington
2. Jamie George
3. Juan Figallo
4. Mouritz Botha
5. Alistair Hargreaves (c)
6. Kelly Brown
7. Jacques Burger
8. Jackson Wray.

Replacements
16. Brett Sharman
17. Rhys Gill
18 Petrus Du Plessis
19. Jim Hamilton
20. Will Fraser
21. Ben Spencer
22. Duncan Taylor
23. Ben Ransom

 

Leigh is, without a doubt, the most over worked writer here at Crunch Sports. A statistician at heart, she can reel off Superbowl plays from decades ago. If we need a deep-dive into the numbers in any sport, we call Leigh first.

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