The final round of All-Ireland SFC group games this weekend will decide the four teams heading directly to the quarter-finals, the eight counties set for preliminary quarter-finals and, of course, the four teams who will see their season come to an end. Paul Flynn casts his eye over the eight matches.
SATURDAY
Group 4
Clare v Derry, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 6pm
Clare are already out, Derry, on the other hand, will be keen to get that week off next week and finish the group on top.
Derry beat Clare by ten points in the league and I can only see a similar outcome in this game.
Verdict: Derry
Donegal v Monaghan, O'Neill's Healy Park, 6pm
This will be a much tighter affair, a hard one to call for me.
Donegal obviously can take some positives from their Derry loss with Oisin Gallen and [Paddy] McBrearty back. Monaghan scored 1-23 against Clare and they were impressive there.
A hard one to call, nothing much really between these two teams in my eyes, I just think that Monaghan have shown a bit more and I'll go for a marginal Monaghan win here.
Verdict: Monaghan
SUNDAY
Group 1
Mayo v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 2pm
This is a difficult one for Mayo because it’s going to pose that stubborn defensive structure again, which they haven’t mastered yet. They really need to figure it out.
They would have learned a lot from the Louth game when they analysed that. It’s a really tough test for Mayo this weekend. Look, if they don’t win I’d really question their chances of winning the All-Ireland but I think they can learn from that game against Louth and they can get over the line here with a win.
Verdict: Mayo
Kerry v Louth, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 2pm
Kerry take on Louth in a fixture we probably haven’t really seen a lot of before.
I think Louth will do what they did against Mayo and really try and frustrate [David] Clifford and co., but I just think Kerry will have learned from the Cork game where they were very structured, and they will come out this week well primed and looking for a statement performance.
Verdict: Kerry
Group 2
Tyrone v Westmeath, Kingspan Breffni, 4pm
Westmeath have been winless so far but they have performed really well and they’ll want to build on that.
Tyrone on the other hand, they’ve got one win under their belt without really performing. I’m waiting for them to kick into gear but it’s just not been forthcoming.
I don’t see them dominating this game but they should have enough to get over the line.
Verdict: Tyrone
Armagh v Galway, Avant Money Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada, 4pm
The game of the weekend, Galway taking on Armagh in a repeat of last year’s phenomenal quarter-final.
Galway have been very efficient this year, flawless in many ways, and they look like they have another gear in them.
If they’re predictable then Armagh are very unpredictable, you just don’t know what you’re going to get with them. There’s no doubt in my mind that they can come out and pull off a shock with a big performance, but I’m going to stick with Galway.
I fancy them this year and I’ll stick with a single-score win for Galway here, which I think which will escalate to them being All-Ireland favourites going into the knock-out stages.
Group 3
Dublin v Sligo, Kingspan Breffni, 1.45pm
Dublin need to show a bit of consistency in their performances now to really kind of build their own confidence in what they’re trying to do.
I think they will this weekend against Sligo. They should overcome Sligo and their aim will be to put more scores on Sligo than Roscommon do against Kildare to make sure they top the group.
Verdict: Dublin
Roscommon v Kildare, Glenisk O’Connor Park, 1.45pm
Roscommon have a trickier affair against Kildare, [there’s] a bit of unpredictability about Kildare. Certainly if they show up, they can cause Roscommon trouble.
Roscommon have been excellent this year, Davy [Burke] and the management team have been brilliant.
A bit of an added incentive there as well, Davy’s home county, so I’m going to go with a Roscommon win but I just don’t think they’ll beat Kildare by more than Dublin will beat Sligo and they’ll come second in the group.
Verdict: Roscommon
Paul Flynn was speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland.
Watch an All-Ireland Football Championship double-header, Roscommon v Kildare and Galway v Armagh, on Sunday from 1.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch highlights of the weekend's football and hurling championship action on The Saturday Game and The Sunday Game, 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
