NRL Sunday: Storm v Knights, predictions & odds, round 12, 2020

Welcome to our Melbourne Storm v Newcastle Knights NRL betting preview and free tips article for their clash at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Sunday, August 2.

The Storm have been in sublime form since relocating to the Sunshine Coast, while the Knights have slipped dramatically of late, including a disastrous 18-12 loss last week to the lowly Bulldogs.

Not only did the Knights lose to the bottom team, they also lost veteran hooker Andrew McCullough (hamstring) and utility Connor Watson (achilles) to injury for the rest out of the season.

Given the Storm have won their past eight games against the Knights by an average of almost 20 points, it’s hard to tip against the second-placed side.

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The past two meetings between these teams have been a 34-4 win to the Storm last season, and a 26-12 win for the Storm in Newcastle just six weeks ago.

Still, this match is the most enticing of the day, with the earlier match between Canterbury-Bankstown and Parramatta from 2pm.

The Storm have lost hard-running centre Brenko Lee (broken hand) to injury, with Marion Seve replacing him, while they regain Tom Eisenhuth after a hamstring injury.

The Knights have called in young hooker Chris Randall for only his second NRL to replace McCullough. Sione Mata’utia (syndesmosis) is also sidelined, with veteran Aidan Guerra back in the starting side.

Read on for our best bets and winner prediction for the Storm v Knights clash at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Sunday, August 2.

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Storm v Knights odds

Kick-off: 4.05pm local time
Venue: Sunshine Coast Stadium, Queensland
Head to head odds: Melbourne Storm $1.22, Newcastle $4.25
Line betting: Melbourne Storm (-11.5 points) $1.91, Newcastle (+11.5 points) $1.85
Match total: 41.5 points: over $1.86, under $1.94

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Storm v Knights free betting tips

Below our NRL betting expert has highlighted his free tips for the Melbourne-Newcastle clash.

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Melbourne Storm v Newcastle Knights prediction

This match will be a real test of the depth of the rising Newcastle side. On paper, they are still turning out a decent unit with plenty of attacking firepower and a good forward pack. The test will be how well the bench stacks up when they are called upon. One factor that raises hope of an upset is that Knights coach Adam O’Brien was an assistant for many years at Melbourne Storm, so knows as well as anyone their game plan. But Melbourne are simply travelling too well at the moment so our final prediction is for the Storm to win by eight points.

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Storm v Knights lowdown

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