NRL Thursday: Storm v Roosters, predictions & odds, round 8, 2020

The Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters renew their fierce rivalry of the past decade at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

The match was relocated from AAMI Park in Melbourne so the Storm have surrendered their home advantage.

Craig Bellamy’s side is likely to be based in Queensland for the next couple of months given the COVID-19 spike in Melbourne. The team has been domiciled at Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast.

They head into Thursday night’s clash with their old foes the Roosters without star playmaker Cameron Munster, who suffered a grade-three medial tear and is likely to miss a month of football.

The Roosters and Storm are sitting in third and fourth places on the NRL table with five wins and two losses apiece from seven games, and this is the clear match of the round.

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The Tricolours have been the clear form team of the competition since the restart, but suffered a major blow last week against St George Illawarra with lock  Victor Radley and hooker Sam Verrills both suffering season-ending knee injuries.

For this match they regain star fullback James Tedesco, while Melbourne have included Ryley Jacks in the halves in place of Munster.

Read on for our best bets and winner prediction for the Storm v Roosters clash at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, on Thursday, July 2.

Storm v Roosters odds

Kick-off: 7.50pm local time
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Head to head odds: Melbourne $2.75, Sydney Roosters $1.46
Line betting: Melbourne (+5.5 points) $1.95, Sydney Roosters (-5.5 points) $1.85
Match total: 35.5 points: over $1.89, under $1.91

Storm v Roosters free betting tips

Below our NRL betting expert has highlighted his free tips for the Melbourne v Sydney Roosters clash.

Melbourne Storm v Sydney Roosters prediction

The last two times these teams met it was a 14-12 win for the Storm followed by a 14-6 win for the Roosters in a preliminary final. We expect this latest renewal to be another finals-like battle with tries hard to come by. The Roosters are just travelling a little better in the past month and the Storm have faced more travel disruption. Sydney Roosters to win by eight points after a torrid battle.

Storm v Roosters lowdown

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