It's not often that a Division 2 game generates the most interest from observers across a football league weekend.
The clash of Derry-Dublin at Celtic Park this evening is certainly one to whet the appetite, not because it's the pairing of the top two in the section, but more due to how the Dubs can deal with a Derry side who are certainly playing with real vigour at the moment.
After last Sunday's demolition of Kildare, Oakleaf boss Rory Gallagher labelled the performance as the best from his team this season.
Derry were tenacious in their defensive work but it was their transitions from defence to attack that again stood out. It's clear that Gallagher and his backroom team have been working on making such transitions more telling since the league resumed. The reigning Ulster champions are certainly the in-form team at the moment and it's no surprise that they are heading back to the top tier.
Dublin, while also on track for promotion, have been less eye-catching so far. And while Jack McCaffrey has returned to the fray, there's been little else for Dubs fans to get excited about so far this spring. For much of last Saturday's clash with Clare, they looked disinterested. That said, they stirred themselves late on with a run of seven points on the trot to record a win by the bare minimum.
In assessing Dublin's spring campaign so far, Seán Cavanagh, speaking on Allianz League Sunday, wasn't grading them highly.
"I don't see a massive improvement from the Dublin of last year," said the former Tyrone star.
Sean Cavanagh sees "no massive improvement" in Dublin this year, adding that "no new names" are coming through #AllianzLeagues #allianzleaguesunday #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/XFNYqxwynF
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 26, 2023
"They are struggling in most games. You look at their scores: they scraped by Kildare by a point, you look at Kildare at the moment and they are not going great. They beat Limerick by nine and Limerick are losing games by an average of 12 points; and then they were lucky to beat Cork by two, Cork could have won that very easily. And last night they scraped by Clare by a point.
"You compare that to the likes of Derry who are annihilating everyone in sight.
"If you're asking me to call that right now, I think Dublin will really struggle. That's where I think they're at and that's not discrediting them."
Of course the narrative around Dublin in recent times would never have the words "struggle" and "lucky" being so prominent.
Is it a case that Dessie Farrell's side are finding it difficult to rise to challenge of life in Division 2?
A point that Ciarán Whelan brought up when speaking on this week's RTÉ GAA Podcast.
"Are they coasting? Are they preparing for later in the year? They are probably not going to face a Division 1 team until the latter stages of the championship. So are they getting the timing right to come later on?
"You're hoping that Dublin will improve as they go along, but so far it has been a little bit concerning. I think it's a massive game for them to deliver and it probably is Dublin's biggest game until the group stages of the [All-Ireland championship]."
Elaborating more on his concerns ahead of the Dubs trip north, Whelan added: "I wouldn't say Dublin are travelling overly confident.
"You would like to think it's one game where we can get a spin out of Dublin or get a lift in their performance, then this would be the game. Derry at home will see this as a chance to take Dublin down a peg or two.
"I think it's a massive challenge [for Dublin]. You know what you're going to get from Derry, but we don't know what we're going to get from Dublin, who have been very patchy in the league so far. They haven't found any new players and really at the start of the year it was about finding that bit of depth, particularly in defence.
"I know they are missing Eoin Murchan, and Davy Byrne hasn't been fully fit, but if you look at Dublin and write the first 15 down on paper they are still very strong, even though I've been saying for two or three years that there is a depth issue.
"Dessie has tried a lot of new players over the last 12 to 18 months and nobody really has put their hand up. Dublin have looked easy to play against in recent weeks; their defence has been exposed. Obviously they are bringing back the likes of Jack McCaffrey and James McCarthy, but overall I'm hoping that this is the weekend where we get that spin out of Dublin in terms of their energy levels, intensity, and that bit of structure.
"So far I haven't seen that in the league. You're wondering, stepping back and saying is it because it's Division 2?"
On Derry's improvement, Whelan highlighted the obvious differences in their game now, improvements that Dublin will have to try and counter.
"Derry have been excellent in the league, we know that. They have had a lot of work done and are superbly conditioned. We know what they bring to the table defensively in terms of trying to break them down.
"They have definitely worked on their transition play and are attacking with a lot more pace. Last year they would have slowed it down a bot until runners got ahead of the ball; they were a little bit laboured going forward and you always felt they were going to run out of road. They have definitely added a bit of impetus to their attacking play.
"Defensively, Dublin have been very open. I've seen no inclination in the last couple of years of Dublin sitting very deep. Against Derry they will have to be a little deeper and they will have to protect their full-back line.
"To see how Dublin tactically are set up to deal with Derry's gameplan will be key.
"If they let Derry dictate the terms of the game they'll get sucked in and caught on their counter-attack. They are unlikely to have their best six defenders on the field and that's an area where they could get exposed."
Speaking also on the podcast, Tyrone All-Ireland winner Enda McGinley, said: "Derry are like a machine at the minute".
That machine, it would seem, now have working parts that are making it flow more freely. Speed of thought is more in evidence now, according to McGinley, an added dimension that should have the Dubs primed for battle.
"The first thing you have to do against Derry is match Derry, match their intensity and hunger. For Dublin that is the key thing, plus the fact that they are being written off and that people are now seeing Derry as a better team than them at the minute. Is that enough to stoke a wee bit of pride, to stoke a bit of the dog in Dublin to really see what they bring out?"
Under Jim Gavin, the Dubs took the lessons from their loss to Donegal in the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final and used it as a platform to counter teams that played with a thick blanket and counter-attacked with telling effect.
Rory Gallagher's side have brought the latter to a new level. For McGinley, seeing what plan Dublin come up with now, only adds to the intrigue.
"Dublin know better than anybody, they cracked defensive football the last time. Dublin were the team that realised you have to stay out of contact, pass the ball around the arc, and keep the ball. They had such good footballers that they practically never lost possession and just wore teams down. If that's the mode they fall into.
"The one thing that has surprised me about other teams in Division 2, apart from Louth, is that no team has set up the way I'd have thought the general conventional wisdom is in how you go and play Derry - how you go and play a team that has a blanket defence. That would be to mirror them. No team bar Louth has done that to Derry so far and Louth cause them some problems.
"Dublin traditionally would have played that system. Derry's attacking play, their transition is brilliant but their variation in whenever they're attacking, they seem to have a policy of acceleration, so whenever a forward gets on the ball, instead of being quite slow and going out around the arc, Derry will accelerate off the turn, they'll accelerate of new angles and then someone else will accelerate off them.
"They are cutting teams to ribbons at the back. Dublin have the quality to try and curtail that. But what way are they going to go about it?
"Will they sit off and go with a zonal defence or will they go really tight, toe-to-toe, man-to-man marking job. It will be fascinating either way."
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Follow Derry v Dublin (throw-in 5pm) via our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport or the RTÉ News app, alternatively watch live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, from 4.30pm. Highlights and reaction to all the weekend's action on Allianz League Sunday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 9.30pm.
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