Throw-in
Pearse Stadium, Sunday 3 June, 3.30pm
Online
Live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News Now App from 3.30pm
Radio
Updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
TV
Highlights of the game, along with all the weekend's action, on The Sunday Game, RTÉ 2, from 9.30pm.
Past 5 championship meetings
2014 Galway 0-16 Sligo 0-11
2012 Sligo 2-14 Galway 0-15
2010 Sligo 1-14 Galway 0-16
2010 Galway 1-10 Sligo 1-10
2009 Galway 1-13 Sligo 0-12
Form guide
Galway's form of late is not exactly a secret to many folk. Historically, the county has often oscillated between swaggering footballing superpower and uninterested sleeping giant. Their startling league campaign indicates they are on the cusp of a positive cycle again.
Most pundits assumed that survival would be their highest aspiration in Division 1. They ended up going unbeaten the league phase proper and damn near winning the whole thing.
Their defence was roundly mocked after the past two All-Ireland quarter-final defeats to Tipperary and Kerry but no one is laughing now. Galway have only conceded one goal in their last nine games.
The influence of former Tyrone coach Paddy Tally in the backroom team has been touted in almost every media profile of Galway, but important too has been the emergence of Sean Andy O'Ceallaigh at full-back, a player who stood out as imperious in the county's run to last year's All-Ireland U21 final.
What really excites about Galway is their abundant talent in the forward line (even if many pundits feel they haven't been let of the leash yet).
With Damien Comer, Shane Walsh, Ian Burke, Eamon Brannigan all potential match-winners, and with Michael Daly to come back into the mix some point, there is a thrilling ensemble there waiting to take flight.
Sligo's form is somewhat more humdrum. Manager Cathal Corey said advancement in the league held little interest for him and that his ambition was to use the spring to develop new players and retain their third tier status.
Both of these ambitions were achieved, albeit the latter one was only made sure of with a late surge against Derry on the final weekend.
They made lighter work of London than pessimists might have feared with impressive displays from free-scoring midfielder Niall Murphy, veteran forward Adrian Marren and substitutes Sean Carrabine and Stephen Coen.
After decades of losing in this fixture, Sligo have had quite a good record over Galway in modern times, beginning with the famous 2007 Connacht final victory, but at present they may be something of an unknown quantity to Galway.
Player watch
Ian Burke (Galway)
Surprisingly, Burke's opportunities for Galway have been relatively limited until now, possibly a consequence of his club's near permanent presence in the latter stages of the All-Ireland series when inter-county league games are being played.
Burke already has a few All-Ireland medals won, in the shape of an U21 All-Ireland title with Galway in 2013 and two club titles with Corofin in 2015 and 2018.
Whenever he's gotten the nod for the seniors, he's lived up to his lofty reputation, playing a starring role last year when the Galway attack ripped a jaded Donegal to shreds in Markievicz Park, and then hitting 0-04 from play in the otherwise disappointing quarter-final defeat to Kerry.
His speed of thought and lightening quick hands when introduced against Mayo last month were key in enabling Galway to crack open the massed Mayo defence in the closing stages.
The sight of him starting in the full-forward line this weekend will delight most Galway supporters. It says something that in a forward line containing Comer, Walsh and Brannigan, Burke could yet emerge as one of the most exciting attackers.
Paddy O'Connor (Sligo)
Sligo's current side is an odd mixture of grizzled old boys a long time on the road like Ross Donovan, Charlie Harrison (2010 All-Star) and marksman Adrian Marren and promising younger players like Niall Murphy, Sean Carrabine and Kyle Cawley.
The latter crop includes the St. Farnan's youngster O'Connor, who was a key member of the Sligo U21 team which took Galway to extra-time in the Connacht decider last year.
He made his debut against Mayo that summer, kicking a point from play in the process. A lively attacker who is often deployed at midfield, O'Connor hit a crucial goal late in the relegation decider against Derry in March.
Manager watch
Kevin Walsh (Galway)
It's Walsh's fourth year in charge of Galway and yet he has somehow managed to avoid bumping into his former team Sligo until now.
Walsh enjoyed five mostly successful years at Sligo, albeit the Connacht title remained elusive and his reign ended on a bum note with a loss to London in Ruislip in his final season.
It was in 2010 that Walsh guided Sligo to promotion to Division 2 and then to Connacht championship wins over both Mayo and Galway.
The county was psychologically preparing itself to celebrate a second Connacht title in four years but they would come unstuck against a highly unfancied Roscommon team in the final in Castlebar.
Walsh has been credited with restoring drive and purpose to the Galway set-up since taking over late 2014 and he has presided over three successive championship victories over Mayo, an achievement which struck one as a long way off in the year before he arrived.
To some extent, Walsh has been overlooked by pundits and analysts with Paddy Tally's reported influence on Galway's recent burst of form. But the uber-pragmatist and two-time All-Ireland winner gives the impression he doesn't care that much either way, so long as Galway keep winning.
Cathal Corey (Sligo)
A largely unknown quantity in Sligo when he took the job last year, Corey's managerial career at club level had been heavily entwined with that of Jim McGuinness.
Corey did win a Donegal title as sole manager of Glenties, after McGuinness had stepped up to take the county job.
His start to life as Sligo manager has been unspectacular but solid. They retained their Division 3 status on the final day of the league and managed to blood a number of younger players in the process.
Sligo lost to London in Ruislip five years ago and thus could not afford to take the challenge lightly. In the end, Corey's charges navigated the task with ease.
Sean Carrabine has already told RTÉ that Corey sees the establishment of a certain bullish, self-confidence within Sligo as key to his project.
Teams:
Galway: Ruairi Lavelle; Declan Kyne, Sean Andy O'Ceallaigh, David Wynne; Cathal Sweeney, Gareth Bradshaw, Sean Kelly; Paul Conroy, Tom Flynn; Eamonn Brannigan, Shane Walsh, Johnny Heaney; Ian Burke, Damien Comer, Barry McHugh
Sligo: Aidan Devaney; Charlie Harrison, Eoin McHugh, Ross Donovan; Neil Ewing, Adrian McIntyre, Gerard O'Kelly Lynch; Niall Murphy, Kevin McDonnell; Paddy O'Connor, Liam Gaughan, Cathal Henry; Kyle Cawley, Pat Hughes, Adrian Marren.
