Leinster SFC quarter-finals<\/p>\n
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Meath go into this as favourites, a new position for them and a new status for them to deal with. It will be interesting to see how they deal with that. They have the players, they have the momentum, the confidence that winning in Croke Park (Division 2 final) brings.<\/p>\n
I expect them to come in well prepared, and they will need to be. Westmeath scored 5-25 last week in easing past Longford. It will be a test for Meath, but they should come through.<\/p>\n
Verdict: Meath<\/p>\n
It is going to be difficult for Louth to retain their Leinster title as there is a lot of competition, starting this weekend with promoted Wexford. Manager John Hegarty has done an amazing job with this team. They will have gained so much from their league campaign and that experience in Croke Park.<\/p>\n
I expect them to really take this game to Louth, but in the latter stages of the league, Louth were absolutely excellent. Gavin Devlin has really got a tune out of his players, even with a lengthy injury list. It could be a cracker and I expect the Wee County to get over the line.<\/p>\n
Verdict: Louth<\/p>\n
It’s hard to know what impact Ger Brennan\u2019s suspension will have on Dublin, who have had an up-and-down start to the season. That noise from the suspension is something they could have done without, but they have enough experience in the management team to be able to deal with this.<\/p>\n
On top of that, there is a really experienced cohort of players there and I expect a bit of an edge from the team, which will be no harm. I expect them to come out all guns blazing, but it won\u2019t be easy in Aughrim, especially with Wicklow\u2019s performance against Carlow.<\/p>\n
Verdict: Dublin<\/p>\n
This could be the upset of the weekend. Laois put three goals on Offaly in the championship, and while Kildare did the the same in the league, Laois are coming into this with real momentum, while the Lilywhites have been up-and-down.<\/p>\n
Kildare at their best, absolutely you would back them, but that\u2019s the question, can they get to their best? I saw Laois last weekend and Evan O\u2019Carroll looked really good. Maybe it\u2019s recency bias, but I\u2019m tipping Laois.<\/p>\n
Verdict: Laois<\/p>\n
Ulster SFC quarter-finals<\/p>\n
Derry should really have too much for the Saffrons. I\u2019m really excited to see what their season looks like, especially in Ulster. They have the players, and they seem to have the bit between their teeth again with some serious performances in the league.<\/p>\n
Verdict: Derry<\/p>\n
This is very much a 50\/50 game. Monaghan are at home which is a slight advantage, but I saw a little bit more from Cavan during the league and I think this game may require extra-time to settle it. If it does go down the stretch, I\u2019m backing Cavan.<\/p>\n
Verdict: Cavan<\/p>\n
Watch a Munster Hurling Championship double-header, Clare v Waterford (2pm) and Tipperary v Cork (4pm), on Sunday from 1.30pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player. Follow our live blog on RT\u00c9.ie\/sport and RT\u00c9 News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RT\u00c9 Radio 1<\/p>\n
Watch The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RT\u00c9 News app and on rte.ie\/sport. Listen to Sunday Sport on RT\u00c9 Radio 1 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leinster SFC quarter-finals Meath go into this as favourites, a new position for them and a new status…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-403127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}