Saracens look to cut the gap at the top of the Premiership table as they travel to London Irish

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Saracens will head to the Brentford Community Stadium to face London Irish, aiming to close the gap between themselves and table-topping Leicester Tigers.

Sarries sit eight points off the top in second and welcome back Nick Isiekwe in place of Callum Hunter-Hill, as well as Alex Lewington for Sean Maitland.

The ‘Men in Black’ head to Brentford to face one of the few sides they have not beaten this season in the London Irish.

Declan Kidney and his side claimed an astonishing 34-34 draw at the StoneX Stadium back in November, coming from 26 points down and a man down in the last 20 minutes to claim three points.

The Exiles bring in Marcel Van der Merwe, Curtis Rona, Kyle Rowe and Ollie Hassell-Collins as Ollie Hoskins, Terrence Hepetema, Ben Loader and Henry Arundell all drop out.

Irish have won five of their last eight league matches, including a 49-32 win over Bristol at Ashton Gate last time out.

This has come after a disappointing run of one win in their first eight games, however, three of those fixtures ended in draws against Sale, Gloucester and the forementioned Saracens match.

Saracens have also won five of their last eight having beaten the Harlequins last Sunday.

Their recent losses against Exeter, Gloucester and Wasps have all seen Mark McCall’s men pick up a losing bonus point and so a close game is certainly on the cards again in West London.

With Irish only winning two home games this season along with Sarries having lost only three away games, Saracens will look to capitalise on any lingering teething problems at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Recent meetings have also gone the way of Saracens, who have not lost any of the last nine Premiership meetings between the two.

A major threat for Irish this season has been their rolling maul which has seen Argentine Agustin Creevy cross over 11 times in the campaign.

The 85-time capped hooker is the top scorer in the league, and as such, Saracens will need to be wary if they are to stop him and secure a positive result over the London Irish.

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