Red Bulls head to Saracens

Saturday afternoon sees Newcastle Red Bulls head to Saracens as Gallagher Prem action returns after a couple of weeks off for Europe. Both teams lost in the last round of their respective European competitions.

Saracens smarting

Saracens will be disappointed with their 28-3 defeat at the hands of Glasgow on Sunday night. Their season has been inconsistent but as a rule of thumb when they've had a poor result they come back firing the next week. That will be a warning to Red Bulls, this Saracens side does have character.

They name a team stacked with internationals including an international front row and back row, in the forwards they'll look to use their big carriers to bludgeon the Red Bulls defence and then create space out wide. Expect to see a lot of variety with the ball carriers with the likes of Willis, Tizard, Onyeama-Christie and McFarland looking to carry hard.

In the backs, Saracens fans have been calling for it and Charlie Bracken gets a start at nine. He's looked lively whenever he's given a chance. Owen Farrell captains the side at fly half, he really is the emotional driver for this Saracens outfit and won't let standards drop around him. The back three of Noah Caluori, the underrated Rotimi Segun and Elliot Daly will pose Red Bulls a threat.

One last push in this block for Red Bulls

Red Bulls name their side and go strong again, this should be the last big push by this group in what's been a long block of fixtures. It's a familiar looking pack with McCallum, McGuigan, Palframan, Hodgson and Usher named in the front five. Christie, Gordon and Lockwood are in the back row. Brett Connon returns to partner Simon Benitez Cruz at half-back. Sammy Arnold and Alex Hearle are in the centres. Christian Wade, Elliott Obatoyinbo and Ethan Grayson make up the back three.

On the bench Ollie Fletcher, Adam Brocklebank and Luan de Bruin cover the front row. Youth gets a chance with Finn Baker and Reuben Parsons cover the back five. The backs are covered by James Elliott, Cameron Hutchinson and Oli Spencer.

Free hit for Red Bulls

Saracens will be favourites at home, for Red Bulls it's a bit of a free hit for them at a Saracens side who will want to end this block with a win in front of their fans. Red Bulls are going to have to be ready for the physical onslaught that Saracens will bring. Red Bulls have generally done well winning the physical battle in recent weeks and will have to be at their best here.

Saracens have fliers in Caluori and Segun that given the opportunity will cause Red Bulls problems.

What to expect

I think this could be a tough afternoon for Red Bulls, Saracens will want to put things right after last weekend's disappointment in Glasgow. For Red Bulls, they lacked energy in Newport and given the workload of this group I'm concerned that it's taking its toll on the group. But they do have a free hit and if they can get quick ball they could cause Saracens some problems.