Galway may have stronger Sam Maguire credentials that Armagh, but in the eyes of RTÉ football analyst Enda McGinley, Sunday's final group game of the All-Ireland series is very much a 50:50 call.
The sides meet in Carrick-on-Shannon (live on RTÉ) with the Tribesmen looking to make it three wins from three and seal their place in the quarter-finals, while the Orchard County and Tyrone both sit on two points and currently in the preliminary quarter-final spots.
Padraic Joyce’s side are already safely through to the last 12 in the race for Sam, while Westmeath still harbour ambitions of their own, though a win over Tyrone is needed.
Building on last year’s All-Ireland final journey, Galway claimed provincial silverware after a strong body of work in the league, with some impressive performances before falling to Mayo at the final hurdle after spurning a number of goal scoring opportunities.
Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, Cora Staunton said she believes the Connacht champions are profiting from a few new faces this year – including midfielder John Maher – and feels they are further along in their development than Kieran McGeeney’s side.
"Galway are nicely building, and have been during the league," she said. "Even in the final defeat, they coughed up a number of goal opportunities
"They haven’t really been tested yet. This will show a lot for Galway. "I just think they are on an upward trajectory."
It is just the fifth time the sides have met in championship football, with Galway coming out on top on four occasions, most notably last year’s penalty shootout victory at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage.
The Tribesmen made most of the running that day before Armagh roared back into the contest, the opposite to what happened in this year’s league encounter that went the way of the visitors at the Athletic Grounds by two points.
Two-time All-Ireland winner McGinley hasn’t been bowled over by Galway in their round-robin games, but feels it might be part of a longer game.
However, with Armagh’s need for a result greater, he feels there could be little to choose in the game.
"Galway struggled for large parts against Westmeath," before adding that they couldn’t make numerical advantage count against Tyrone significantly on the scoreboard when the Red Hands were reduced to 13 men.
"Armagh bossed the league game at the Athletic Grounds, but they sat back and Galway got a run at the end and ended up winning the game. It meant a lot to them down there.
While I rate Galway as the higher team in terms of All-Ireland chances, I'd be rating this as pretty close to 50/50
"It’s a difficult game to predict, and Armagh themselves are very hard to predict.
"If Armagh really turn up – and they are without Rian O’Neill – and are solid the way they have been, but get that balance right and get the rub of the green up front they didn’t get against Tyrone, they could ask Galway all sorts of questions.
"Armagh are fighting for this, but Galway may well be in a little comfort zone and unless they snap out of it, I wouldn’t be at all surprised for an Armagh result."
"While I rate Galway as the higher team in terms of All-Ireland chances, I’d be rating this as pretty close to 50:50."
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