Former All-Star predicts Dublin-Mayo draw
Fomer Dublin player Diarmuid Connolly has admitted he's surprised by Dublin's favourites tag ahead of their Division 1 encounter with Mayo this Saturday night in Croke Park.
Mayo have picked up three points from their opening two games while Dublin sit rock bottom of Division 1 having lost their two against Armagh and Kerry.
Despite that, Dublin are odds-on favourites with the bookmakers, with Boylesports offering 4/6 for a Dublin win, while Mayo are priced at 13/8 to beat the Dubs.
Connolly feels the game will be a draw, which can be backed at 13/2.
He said: “Mayo haven’t lost yet this year. They drew the first day out and beat Monaghan the last day. Mayo are huge odds at 13/8. Dublin are 4/6 favourites, and I can’t understand why. They were struggling against Kerry for long periods down in Killarney. I still don’t think they have their full personnel at their disposal at the minute and I don’t think we will see that Saturday.
“We might see some of the Kilmacud Crokes lads come back into the team and maybe see Rory O’Carroll. Dara Mullin will probably come back into the panel, but can you play those guys after such a long season. Dessie Farrell will probably give them a little bit of a break.
“I fancy the draw at 13/2. I think every time Dublin and Mayo play each other it’s always a really tight affair. Same as last year it went to a draw in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final. It’s in Croke Park and it suits both teams and I think it will be a high scoring game. Dublin’s first day out they scored 16 scores and scored 11 on their second day out. It was the opposite for Mayo, they scored 11 in their first game and 16 in their second game. They are even on the scoring chart. I fancy the draw and don’t see Dublin as favourites at all to be honest.
Reflecting on Dublin's poor start to the season, Connolly said: “Dublin are in an awkward position because they have a lot of injuries and they don’t have the full personnel to pick from. Armagh hit the ground running in their first game and Dublin were a bit slow out of the blocks.
"Kerry were a different animal. Going down to Killarney is always difficult. I know Dublin haven’t got a result in their first two games and they have now lost their last three competitive games and it’s a little bit of a worry for me.
“Dessie Farrell is building a squad there and he knows what he has in the senior guys but he doesn’t know what he has in the guys coming in on the panel maybe this year or last year. He is going to be feeling those guys out I’d imagine.
“Dublin aren’t going to win any games by leaving pretty much a debutant in Lee Gannon against one of the best forwards in the league David Clifford. I think they need to find a partner for Brian Fenton in midfield just to solidify that because that is Dublin’s strengths, and they need to be more direct with the football. Maybe then they could something off."