* 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.
14:00 Waterford v Galway: Over 3.5 Goals
It was a steamy weekend last weekend with Limerick and Tipperary serving up a cracker, while Clare and Wexford did likewise. You know the warm weather was a massive factor in last weekend’s games and the forecast is predicting similar conditions this weekend. We’ve got two cracking games to look forward to and we’ll start with Galway and Waterford in Saturday’s earlier throw in.
When you look at the form of both teams, Galway and Waterford were both very impressive during the National League stages and Galway, who shot the lights out in some of their games, are being hotly tipped as the team most likely to challenge Limerick’s All-Ireland crown.
But they were so poor against Dublin in their opening Championship fixture and totally underperformed. They were very disappointing and now they find themselves in the Qualifiers, which is probably the route they didn’t want to be going down.
Waterford, likewise, were very flat and didn’t turn up against Clare in the Munster quarter-final. Meanwhile, they got the fright of their lives last weekend against Laois and just about got over the line.
This game to me is really a case of which Galway team turns up. If The Tribesmen perform and bring their ‘A’ game, they’ll win the match. I’m expecting a backlash and if that happens, then Galway will win the game. If Galway are anywhere below par and Waterford play to what they are capable of, The Déise can win the match. The fear I have from a Waterford point of view is, that Galway are going to turn up and they’re going to have the bit between their teeth.
Waterford can match them, but when I look at what they have in the squad, they are missing Tadhg de Búrca and it’s the big games against the top three (the likes Galway, Limerick and Kilkenny) you want De Búrca in defence. You also need Jamie Barron on top of that too, who got 12 minutes into the legs last weekend.
How fit is he going to be because in and around that middle third, that’s where Galway are very strong. Unfortunately, I sincerely do hope I’m proven wrong, but my head is just telling me that Galway will have enough to get them over the line. I’m going with my head over my heart and I’m going to go with Galway to Win.
I reckon it will be very tight. Galway may win by just three or four points, but I believe there are going to be goals in this match. There were green flags galore goals in their League game, seven of them in fact! I would look at the Over 3.5 Goals market and that’s what I’m going to go with.
16:30 Clare v Cork: Over 3.5 Goals
This is a difficult game to predict, and Paddy has it spot on in the match odds markets. It’s hard to separate the counties to be honest. Cork are slight favourites but Clare have a bit of momentum going for them. They beat Waterford, they beat Wexford and who knows they might have possibly beaten Tipperary only for that sin-bin incident.
I was very impressed by Cork against Limerick. They possibly could have won it if they had taken their chances. Patrick Horgan was very quiet. This will be Clare’s fourth game in five weeks. Will the games strengthen them or will they catch up with them? We saw the heat last weekend, it can be very draining. It could be very hot again this weekend and there is something telling me that Cork will win.
There’s something happening down there, and if Cork can possibly get through this match, they could have a big say in the Championship yet. They are one team I would fancy themselves to turn over Limerick, but they’ve got to jump this hurdle first.
A lot of it’s going to depend on how they get on from the start. If they get on to a good start and they’re in with a big shout, as we know The Bannermen start quick. In all of their three games to date, Clare got off to a cracking start. The start is vital for The Rebels. If they’re there in the first 15, I think they’ll have enough to get over the line, so I’m going to go with a Cork victory in this fixture.
Again, I’m going to go for Over 3.5 Goals in this match, as both sides have been in sparkling goalscoring form in 2021. If you want to double it up, go for over 3.5 Goals to be scored in doth matches, with Cork and Galway coming out victors.
Weekend GAA tips:
14:00 Waterford v Galway: Over 3.5 Goals
16:30 Clare v Cork: Over 3.5 Goals
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