GAA tips: Don’t pass up John Mullane’s 5/2 double for Sunday’s clashes

* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

** This article has been updated after Kilkenny v Wexford was called off due to Covid-19.

15:00 Laois v Clare: Laois (+9)

Clare are heavy odds-on favourites for this game, while Laois are big outsiders on Sunday afternoon. Brian Lohan will have been delighted with Clare’s showing for most of the game with Wexford last weekend, but it all fell apart in the last 10 minutes after Liam Corry’s sending off. That should make Lohan and Co even more hungry to get The Banner’s first win of the campaign this weekend.

On the flip side, Seamus ‘Chedder’ Plunkett will want his Laois outfit to give a good account of themselves here after defeats to Wexford and Dublin in their opening games. These sides met in the Championship last year and it was a very close game, although Clare were a man down for most of the match.

The likelihood is that Clare’s talisman Tony Kelly won’t start this game after being injured last weekend. They are also going to be without David McInerney and David Reidy, so they are down a few key bodies here. The Banner County should still be good enough to win the match in Portlaoise though, but not by enough to stop Laois (+9) coming up.

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15:45 Waterford v Limerick: Waterford (+4)

This could potentially be the game of the weekend as both managers will be anxious to get a big win on the board. Both counties are coming into this off the back below-par performances last weekend. Waterford did just about enough to get over the line and beat Westmeath, albeit The Déise has a second-string line-up out. I wouldn’t be surprised if Liam Cahill was using that showing as a stick to beat his team with all week though.

Limerick’s John Kiely is in a summary mode to Cahill, and he will not be happy with how his team performed in their defeat to Galway last Sunday. It is probably a bad time for Waterford to Limerick because of that loss though. But, Waterford do have home advantage in their favour and Walsh Park is a difficult venue for teams to go to.

It pains me to say it, but I don’t see Waterford winning on Sunday. I’d expect Limerick to rebound from that Galway disappointment and get their first League win on the board. But, can Waterford cover the four-point handicap spread?

With Championship not to far away, managers will be keen to get close to their strongest starting XV on the field as they can and that can keep things tight in this game. Waterford should keep Limerick’s win to two or three points and that covers our handicap here.