The remaining final places and relegation issues in Divisions 1, 2 and 3 will all be sorted this weekend.
There are 14 games down for decision across the weekend – including two Division 4 semi-finals on Sunday, as Antrim, Fermanagh, Leitrim and Limerick battle for final slots at Parnell Park on Sunday 16 April.
ONLINE
Live score updates and reports on rte.ie/sport
RADIO
Updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport.
TV
Cork v Meath live on TG4 from 12.30pm.
WEATHER
Saturday: Hazy spells of sunshine along with scattered showers. It will be cloudier in the south with a chance of rain moving into the southwest during the evening. Highest temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees. Moderate westerly breezes will ease light in the afternoon.
Sunday: Scattered showers with some sunny spells in a mostly light northerly breeze. Highs will range from 7 degrees in Ulster up to 13 degrees in Munster. For more go to met.ie.
SATURDAY 25 MARCH
Lidl NFL Division 1
Cork v Meath, Páirc Uí Rinn, 12.45pm
A dead rubber on the cards at Páirc Uí Rinn in front of the live TV cameras but both sides will be anxious to put on a show nevertheless. For Cork, the aim is to build on their impressive St Patrick's Day victory over Kerry, who may have had one eye on the 15 April 15 they had already qualified for.
Meath’s squad is slowly taking shape again as the championship looms into focus but the 2022 champions will be keen to finish their League campaign on a positive note.
Four defeats from six outings to date is not the Meath we’ve become accustomed to in recent times.
Cork: S Murphy; M Duggan, E Meaney, R Phelan; E O’Shea, S Kelly, D Kiniry; H Looney, S Leahy (capt.); L Coppinger, D O’Sullivan, E Cleary; O Cahalane, E Kiely, C O’Sullivan.
Meath: M McGuirk; A Sheridan, M.K. Lynch, K Newe; N Gallogly, S Ennis (capt.), A Cleary; M O’Shaughnessy, A Minogue; M Thynne, A Sherlock, C Smyth; A O’Leary, S Grimes, N O’Sullivan.
SUNDAY 26 MARCH
Lidl NFL Division 1
Donegal v Mayo, Letterkenny, 2pm
This is the big fixture in Division 1 at the weekend – a straight winner-takes-all relegation shoot-out. Mayo have won just one of their six League fixtures to date, and simply avoiding defeat here will be good enough against pointless Donegal, who were Division 1 finalists in 2022.
Home advantage should be an advantage to Donegal but with a score difference of -58, they've suffered some big defeats in the 2023 campaign.
A win for the hosts would bring them level with Mayo on three points, and they’d survive on the head to head rule.
Donegal: A McColgan; C Keon, E Gallagher (capt.), N McLaughlin; R Rodgers, A Temple Asoko, T Hegarty; S Twohig, S McGroddy; N Carr, K Long, K Dowds; S White, K Herron, C McGarvey.
Mayo: L Brennan; É Ronayne, D Caldwell, S Lally; T O’Connor, C Needham, K Sullivan (capt.); A Geraghty, S Cafferky; S Walsh, S Howley, F McHale; L Cafferky, R Kearns, T Needham.
Galway v Kerry, Tuam Stadium, 2pm
There may be some shadow boxing on show here, with both counties already qualified for the Division 1 decider.
The fixtures calendar has thrown up this coincidence whereby both counties must take each other on before meeting again three weeks later – and with national silverware on the line then.
Galway remain the only unbeaten county in Division 1 and will be anxious to maintain that record, while Kerry fell to their first defeat of the season against Cork on St Patrick's Day.
Even though both teams will meet again soon, they’ve named strong starting line-ups for this League Final dress rehearsal.
Galway: K Connolly; K Geraghty, S Ní Loingsigh (capt.), E Gavin; C Cooney, N Ward, A Molloy; A Davoren, O Divilly; L Coen, E Noone, L Noone; A O’Rourke, L Ward, K Slevin.
Kerry: C Butler; É Lynch, K Cronin, C Murphy; A O’Connell, E Costello, C Lynch; L Scanlon, M O’Connell; N Carmody, N Ní Chonchúir, A Galvin; F Tangney, S O’Shea (capt.), L Ní Mhuircheartaigh.
Dublin v Waterford; Parnell Park, 2pm
The neutral observer may have predicted that Waterford would struggle in the top flight this year but they've been superb under the tutelage of Pat Sullivan. Waterford’s form has been so good that they’ll travel to the capital harbouring genuine hopes of gaining a positive result against the Sky Blues.
Three wins, two defeats and a draw from their six games to date consolidated Waterford’s top flight status, while Dublin have been gradually improving.
Mick Bohan’s charges were still in the hunt for a final place until last weekend, until Galway made sure of joining Kerry at Croke Park in three weeks time.
Dublin: A Shiels; N Crowley, L Caffrey (capt.), J Tobin; L Magee, M Byrne, A Kane; J Dunne, E O’Dowd; C O’Connor, O Nolan, E Gribben; K Sullivan, N Hetherton, J Egan.
Waterford: E O’Brien; C Murray, M Dunford, A Murray; E Power, E Murray, H Power; K Hogan, A Waring; A O’Neill, A Fitzgerald, C McCarthy; Karen McGrath (capt.), B McMaugh, L McGregor.
Lidl NFL Division 2
Laois v Roscommon, Crettyard, 2pm
Laois must do the business at home to Roscommon and hope that Armagh do them a favour against Tipperary to claim a final slot.
If Laois win, and Armagh beat Tipperary, it's Laois who will join the Ulster side in the decider, as the O’Moore County beat Tipperary in the group stages and would progress on the head to head rule.
Laois will start as undoubted favourites for this one and if they win, they'll relegate Roscommon in the process.
Tipperary v Armagh, Fethard Town Park, 1pm
This could yet turn out to be a dress rehearsal for the final.
If Armagh decide to go strong with their starting selection, it could spell trouble for Tipp, however.
The Premier County need to avoid defeat to join the Orchard County in the showpiece decider but if they lose, and Laois beat Roscommon, Tipp will have to settle for Division 2 fare again next year.
Tyrone v Cavan, Newtownstewart, 2pm
Both counties will have been happy first and foremost to survive in a competitive Division 2 this year.
They both achieved that primary aim with ease but will perhaps be disappointed not to have challenged towards the top end of the table. This is a dead rubber fixture in Newtownstewart but with two Ulster teams in action, it should be a keenly contested fixture nevertheless.
Westmeath v Monaghan; St Loman's 3G, 2pm
Monaghan know what they have to do as they prepare for a crucial trip to Mullingar. Even a draw would be good enough to secure tier 2 football again next year but if they lose, and Roscommon shock Laois, Monaghan and Roscommon would be locked together on four points at the bottom.
In this instance, they can't be split on the head to head rule, as the teams drew 0-13 apiece when they met. If this does turn out to be the case, the team with the better scoring difference would survive in Division 2.
Lidl NFL Division 3
Sligo v Offaly; St Marys Kent Park, 2pm
A crucial fixture towards the bottom sees Sligo at home. The westerners have three points but Offaly, without a point from their six outings, would be highly likely to save themselves with a win. Should the sides finish level on three points at the close of play, Offaly will survive on the head to head rule.
In another potential scenario, a Longford loss against Clare could see three teams potentially locked together on three points.
In this case, Longford currently have the worst scoring difference (Sligo -37, Offaly -54, Longford -71).
Kildare v Wexford; Hawkfield Pitch 1, 2pm
Both teams are on 15 points and the winner here is guaranteed a final slot. The loser will have to wait and see what transpires elsewhere, with a cluster of three teams – Down, Clare and Louth – locked together on 12 points below the pacesetters. If this game finishes in a draw, both Kildare and Wexford will qualify to meet again on April 16 at Parnell Park.
Longford v Clare; Emmet Park, Killoe, 2pm
A draw would be good enough here to keep Longford in the division for another season.
Defeat, however, and the Midlanders will be sweating on the result of the Sligo-Offaly game, and hoping that Sligo gain a positive result. The nightmare scenario for Longford is to finish level with Sligo and Offaly on three points at the close of play, as their scoring difference (-71) is the worst of the three counties ahead of Sunday's matches.
Clare will be hoping to rack up a good score, which could yet see them through on scoring difference.
Louth v Down, Darver, 2pm
Down have the better scoring difference (+20 compared to Louth’s +6) and that could yet prove crucial if three teams are locked together at the close of play in the hunt for a precious final berth.
Down have beaten Wexford, too, and that yet prove to be a pivotal result.
In a table with so many potential permutations, one could see Down qualify by virtue of that victory over Wexford – but they need to get past Louth first, who still harbour their own final ambitions.
Lidl NFL Division 4 semi-finals
Antrim v Limerick, Whitehall, Colmcille, 2pm
Limerick were beaten finalists last year and are keen to go one better. But the Shannonsiders face stiff opposition against an Antrim side motoring extremely well this year. The Saffrons are reigning All-Ireland junior champions and topped Division 4A to reach the last four.
Limerick's form has been impressive, too, as they finished second behind Leitrim and unbeaten in Division 4B, with three wins and a draw.
Fermanagh v Leitrim, Templeport Bawnboy, 2pm
Leitrim were in good form ahead of this game before coming unstuck against Offaly.
With three wins and a draw, the Westerners finished on top of Division 4B and now face a Fermanagh side that finished second behind Antrim in Division 4A.
Fermanagh also reached the semi-finals last year but lost out to Limerick by four points.
Fermanagh went on to contest the All-Ireland junior final, losing out to Antrim after a replay, and will have their sights set on another national decider.
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