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Saracens

Saracens are at their best. Now the only unbeaten team in the 2022/23 Premiership, they have scored a league-topping 215 points so far this season.

The attacking prowess of the men in black has been impressive. Connecting well in attack, they have produced more try assists (3.33) and offloads (14.33) per match than any other team. They have also made 12.3 clean breaks per match – the highest figure in the league.

Saracens round 8 man of the match Maro Itoje made more tackles than any other player at the weekend (22), missing none. He also won three turnovers, no player managed more.

Owen Farrell and Elliot Daly have been the playmaking engine of the Saracens machine so far this season. Daly has made more try assists than any other player (seven), whilst Farrell is close second with five (= George Furbank). In terms of break assists, Farrell is well clear of the competition, putting runners through holes with 13 of his passes (next best seven). Demonstrating the speed and accuracy of his passing, he has also made a league-high 32 miss passes.

Sale Sharks

Despite their physicality in open play, the Sharks have the lowest rate of scrum success in the league (77%).

Sale Sharks have been brilliant at making retrievable kicks. They have retained the ball on a league-high 29 occasions that they’ve put it to the boot.

Combining dangerous ball carries with deft touches, Dan du Preez made four offloads in round seven – the most of any player. This is equal to the highest number of offloads thrown by a forward in a single match this season. Du Preez has also made the most dominant tackle contacts of any Premiership player (ten), with twin brother Jean-Luc and teammate Tom Curry hot on his heels with nine (= George McGuigan).

For a player with three or more appearances, Raffi Quirke has averaged the highest number of try assists per 80 minutes (1.8).

Historical

A contest between first and second. However, Saracens have been the stronger of the two sides in their recent meetings, winning eight of their last ten against the Sharks, who last won against their rivals in September 2020.

No side has beaten Saracens away from home in the last ten matches that the 2021/22 Runners-Up have hosted a Premiership match.