This week sees the four sides competing in European competition play their final league game for three weeks and with it a chance to leave others toiling.
Shamrock Rovers, Derry City, St Patrick's Athletic and Dundalk have played two more matches than the rest of the Premier Division and occupy the top four positions.
The Hoops have a four-point advantage at the top, a reduced margin from a week ago after a surprise 2-0 loss in Oriel Park.
Derry City have just one win in seven matches yet are still in touching distance if they can find form in the final third of the campaign.
St Patrick’s Athletic find themselves in second place following their fine start to life under Jon Daly.
The sides chasing European spots have struggled in recent weeks.
Bohemians have one win in nine, Sligo Rovers two wins in that period and Shelbourne have three, with two of those coming in early April.
Things are also tight at the promotion/relegation play-off following Drogheda United and Cork City’s draw last week and Sligo moving slightly clear.
It leaves a crucial round of games before the break for the leaders in Europe and the FAI Cup.
Shamrock Rovers are in Drogheda – a venue and opposition they have found tricky in recent history, while Derry are seeking their first win of the season over Sligo.
St Patrick’s Athletic will hope to make further ground on the leaders when Cork visit Richmond Park.
Shelbourne will look to better their 0-0 results in Belfield earlier in the year against UCD while there’s an important clash for Bohemians when Dundalk visit Dalymount Park in a real six-pointer in the race for the top four.
Drogheda United v Shamrock Rovers, Weaver's Park. 7.45pm
The previous meeting of these sides saw Drogheda record the best win of their season and possibly of the last decade.
Very few teams take three points from Tallaght Stadium so for Kevin Doherty's side to do so was a major achievement.
Despite some top performances, United are just two points ahead of the relegation play-off position.
They were unlucky not to take maximum points last week in Cork, which would have opened up a gap on the Rebels, and they face a tough battle to stay out of ninth spot for the rest of the campaign.
United have added 20-year-old defender Jamie Egan from Bristol Rovers, pending international clearance.
Egan secured his first professional contract with Bristol Rovers in May 2022 and has had several loan spells.
He will have fill the gap left by Elicha Ahui with no replacement for Freddie Draper as of yet.
Rovers are looking to rebound from a 2-0 defeat against Dundalk last time out and potentially stretch their lead at the top of the table.
Gary O'Neill and Lee Grace look set to miss the game through injury and while Jack Byrne and Ronan Finn are close to a return, they may not start given Rovers have their Champions League first round qualifier on Tuesday.
Drogheda have already beaten Rovers in Tallaght this season and manager Stephen Bradley is wary of the threat that they will again present.
He said: "Drogheda's game has always to defend deep and play in transition and they have been good at that against certain teams and won games that way, we know how that’s they play as well as being efficient in the final third, and we have to respect that and be good in those moments.
"We controlled the majority of the game in Tallaght but we weren’t good in those moments and they punished us.
"Drogheda and Cork have taken points off us this year, so we know we'll have a difficult game, but if you offer us the performance that we had against Drogheda in Tallaght, we’ll take it, with a different outcome. If we bring that level of performance we won’t be too far away."
Derry City v Sligo Rovers, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, 7.45pm
Derry City have been handed a major lift by not just two new signings but the return of key men.
Michael Duffy, Patrick McEleney and Will Patching have trained all week. New signings Paul McMullen and Danny Mullen could also feature tonight pending international clearance.
Ruaidhri Higgins said: "It's such an unpredictable league this year and they're coming here on the back of a really big win over Bohs.
"They beat us down there on what was a really poor night for us and we have to be ready to go from the start on Friday."
Adam O'Reilly serves a two-game ban.
Regardless Higgins is pleased with possibly five more players coming into his group: "We're certainly in a much better position than we were against Shelbourne last week, that's for sure.
"We need to go out now and make sure we're on the front foot from the start and show real energy at the top end of the pitch.
"There's an awful lot of football still to play."
Sligo Rovers manager John Russell is eager to build on a positive performance in last week's 3-1 win at the Showgrounds over Bohemians.
'’We now face into a big month of July. First up is a tough away fixture against Derry City," he said.
‘’They have some top players and have already strengthened in the transfer window, so we know we’ll need to be at our best.
‘’It’s important we approach the game with the same mindset as last week’’.
In team news, there are no fresh injury concerns from last week’s game with Frank Liivak declaring himself fit after coming off at half-time against Bohemians.
Eanna Clancy has departed for UCD this week.
Garry Buckley, Karl O’ Sullivan and James Finnerty are all progressing and continuing their rehabilitation programmes with the hope to return in the next three weeks or so.
Gary Boylan will miss the rest of the season while Mark Byrne should return in around a month, with the same expected for Reece Hutchinson.
St Patrick's Athletic v Cork City, Richmond Park, 7.45pm
Pat's have been on a roll since Jon Daly took charge before the mid-season break and will be aiming to make it a ninth win from 12 tonight when Cork City visit Inchicore.
Indeed, Cork were the first team that the Saints grappled with after Daly initially took temporary charge back in early May, yielding a 3-2 win for the visitors at Turner's Cross.
Pat's have made a number of additions, including Kian Leavy and Alex Nolan arriving from Shelbourne and UCD respectively.
Cork, meanwhile, have brought in winger Conor Drinan from Cobh Ramblers, with more expected to strengthen their hand in the battle to avoid the relegation play-off spot that they currently occupy.
"They're a good side, they'll have a few signings in as well," Daly said of Cork.
"They've done relatively well. It's important that we play our game and we're obviously fully aware of their threat.
"They've got some good players, we're fully aware of Tunde (Owolabi) and what he can and can't do. (Ruairi) Keating up top is a handful and scores goals, so definitely going forward, they're a real threat."
Bohemians v Dundalk, Dalymount Park, 7.45pm
Bohemians welcome Dundalk to Dalymount Park with both sides in vastly different form.
The home side have won just one of their last five games with much of their early season promise evaporating away, while the Lilywhites have really turned the style of late, taking 13 points from the last available 15.
Bohemians trail Dundalk by four points in the table and that could be seven come the end of the evening but manager Declan Devine is hoping that they can rediscover some of their earlier season form.
The Gypsies come into the game off the back of a 3-0 defeat to Sligo Rovers but boosted by the signing of Bartlomiej Kukulowicz, who Devine describes as an 'out-and-out right-back' and who ‘ticks a lot of boxes for us in the way we want to play’.
The Bohs boss said: "We have dropped a lot of points over the last eight or nine games. There have been a lot of tough games but we certainly should have had a better points return. We have spoken about that.
"We have a very tight group and we have spoken about the points left behind us. We are confident we can get back to the level of performances we are capable of."
Bohs have four points from their two games against Dundalk this season - a 2-1 victory in Dalymount in February and a 2-2 draw in Oriel Park in May when Devine's side battled back from 2-0 down.
Ali Coote (hamstring), Luke Dennison (hand) and Dean Williams (ankle) are out. James Akintunde (quad) and Keith Buckley (calf) are doubts.
It is hoped that new signing Kukulowicz will join the matchday squad, while Cian Byrne is set to be included having been recalled from his loan spell with Longford Town.
Dundalk's Andy Boyle (hamstring) and Robbie McCourt (groin) will be assessed before kickoff while Cameron Elliott, Robbie Benson and John Mountney are out.
New signing Darren Brownlie will join up with the squad next week.
Despite Bohs' drop off in form, Dundalk head coach Stephen O'Donnell is wary of the Gypsies."Every team's been through a poor run and enjoyed a good run this season," he said, "and both ourselves and Bohemians are probably experiencing that now.
"You've seen with other teams, you can go through a little bit of a lull and then put a run together, that’s the way the league's been, so they’ll think that they're not far away from putting a run of their own together."
UCD v Shelbourne, UCD Bowl, 7.45pm
Shelbourne make the short trip across the city to face UCD at the Belfield Bowl.
Damien Duff's side come into this one off the back of a 1-1 draw with Derry City in their last League of Ireland outing.
In team news, Shels will once again be without the influential Matty Smith, a key player this season, while the long term injured Brian McManus is out, Shane Griffin and Kyle Robinson are also missing:
"Toward the end of the Bohs game, Kyle took a head knock. As a result, he won’t be involved against UCD, more out of an abundance of caution. It’s great to see him score, though. That will definitely help his confidence
"Matty won’t be in the squad tomorrow due to an ongoing issue. He rolled his ankle against Sligo Rovers. The same goes for Griff, who has a calf strain, and Brian McManus is rehabbing after surgery.
Duff welcomed two new players to the training group this week following the arrival of Harry Fisk and Harry Wood, both joining from Hull City. Duff hopes the window will bring the best out of his current squad:
"I hope to see a response from the players here. The window can be positive as it brings healthy competition to the group. It keeps everyone on their toes and pushes them to perform better, the players here looking over the shoulder, knowing new boys are coming in, it helps them get up to the next gear.
"It’s great to have Harry Wood and Harry Fisk in, they’ll add a lot to the squad. It’s important that people know, and the lads know. Nobody should assume anything will be handed to new signings coming from Hull City, players will be picked on the same basis they always have been, they will need to earn their minutes."
Shels beat UCD 1-0 the last time the sides met in Tolka earlier this season, on the last visit to Belfield the sides played out a 0-0 draw. Duff admits results against UCD have been frustrating at times for the players and staff: "We won the home game in Tolka, it was a frustrating night. When we analyse it, the goal is to get three points, but right up there, we aim for a strong and positive performance. The key to a good performance is mentality. We need to approach the game with the right mindset, prepare properly, and that performance should follow."
UCD have lost 9 of their last 10 games, their most recent meeting with St Pats a week ago saw them beaten 7-0.
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