Sports Mole previews Friday’s League of Ireland Premier clash between Bohemians and St Patrick’s Athletic, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Bohemians will be bidding to make it back-to-back wins in the League of Ireland Premier Division when they welcome St Patrick’s Athletic to Dalymount Park on Friday evening.
The home side are currently fifth in the table, boasting 23 points from their 16 league matches this season, while St Patrick’s Athletic occupy seventh, four points behind their opponents here.
Match preview
Bohemians have a record of seven wins, two draws and seven losses from their 16 league matches this season, with a total of 23 points leaving them in fifth position in the table.
Alan Reynolds‘s side are only five points behind third-placed Shamrock Rovers with two games in hand, and they will enter this match off the back of a 3-0 victory at Sligo Rovers.
Bohs were actually winless in their four games ahead of the trip to Sligo Rovers, picking up just one point in the process, but they returned to winning ways in impressive fashion.
Reynolds’s team have had mixed success at home this season, winning three, drawing two and losing three of their eight matches in front of their own fans, collecting 11 points in the process.
Bohemians also lost at home to St Patrick’s Athletic last season, but they recorded a 1-0 victory when the two teams last locked horns in the League of Ireland Premier Division back in February.
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St Patrick’s Athletic will enter this contest off the back of a 2-1 home defeat to Shelbourne, and they have only managed to pick up one point from their last three matches.
The team’s last success was a 1-0 win over Drogheda United on May 3, and a total of 19 points from 18 matches has left them in seventh position in the division.
The Saints finished third in the table last term, while they have won the League of Ireland Premier Division on nine occasions, with their last success coming in 2013.
Stephen Kenny‘s side have found it difficult on their travels this season, picking up only six points from nine games, recording just one win in the process, which came against Galway United in the middle of February.
St Patrick’s Athletic have only lost two of their last eight league games against Bohemians, though, and as mentioned, were 2-0 winners on their last visit to Dalymount Park.
Bohemians League of Ireland Premier form:
St Patrick’s Athletic League of Ireland Premier form:
Team News
Bohemians will be without the services of three first-team players on Friday, with Brian McManus on the sidelines due to a muscular issue, while Rob Cornwall and Keith Buckley have long-term knee injuries.
Head coach Reynolds could decide to select the same XI that took to the field for the first whistle of the three-goal success over Sligo Rovers last Friday.
James Akintunde is the team’s top goalscorer this season with four, and the 28-year-old is again set to lead the line for Bohemians in this contest.
As for St Patrick’s Athletic, Axel Sjoberg and Tom Grivosti have been ruled out of the match due to injury problems.
Head coach Kenny would certainly have taken the positives from the team’s display against division leaders Shelbourne last time out, with the game’s deciding goal coming in the 96th minute.
As a result, it could be an unchanged side for the visitors, with Ruairi Keating, who has scored five times this season, leading the line.
Bohemians possible starting lineup:
Chorazka; Matheson, Mills, Keita, Kirk; McManus, Rooney; Clarke, McDonnell, McDaid; Akintunde
St Patrick’s Athletic possible starting lineup:
Rogers; McLaughlin, Redmond, Turner, Breslin; Forrester, Lennon, Leavy; Kavanagh; Mulraney, Keating
We say: Bohemians 1-1 St Patrick’s Athletic
There has actually only been one draw in the last nine league meetings between these two sides, but we can see the points being shared on Friday, as St Patrick’s Athletic have enough quality to avoid defeat here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.