Sports Mole previews Friday’s League of Ireland Premier clash between Dundalk and Derry City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Derry City make the trip to Dundalk on Friday evening looking for the win that will keep them in second place in the League of Ireland Premier Division table.
Meanwhile, the home side sit three points adrift in bottom spot and ideally need a victory to stay within sight of eighth, the current gap standing at seven points.
Match preview
For a team that occupies second position in the table, it is bizarre that Derry have failed to win more than two matches in succession all season.
They have also achieved that feat on just two occasions, yet they have been able to keep chipping away at their points total to remain in contention with Shelbourne.
On a negative note, Ruaidhri Higgins‘s side have prevailed in just two of their last six fixtures, those successes coming by 1-0 scorelines against the sixth and seventh-placed teams in the division.
A 1-0 defeat to Shamrock Rovers – the third-placed team – followed, before the Red and White Army were held to a 2-2 draw against third-from-bottom Sligo Rovers last time out.
Derry twice had to come from behind to earn a share of the spoils at the Brandywell Stadium, at least providing them with some momentum ahead of a match that they will expect to win.
From the perspective of Dundalk, they can claim to be on an upward trajectory with their only two victories this season coming in the last six games.
Bohemians and Shamrock have each been defeated in home fixtures, and Dundalk have impressively recorded three consecutive clean sheets at Oriel Park.
However, losing three of their most recent four fixtures has the potential to knock the stuffing out of Jon Daly‘s team in the long run, with seven points now the gap to safety.
There has been just one occasion all season where Dundalk have scored more than once in a single match, not ideal when facing a team with the attacking prowess of Derry.
Dundalk League of Ireland Premier form:
Derry City League of Ireland Premier form:
Team News
With John Mountney an early withdrawal against Galway, Hayden Muller could be brought into the Dundalk team in his place.
That may see Mayowa Animasahun moved into a central-midfield role, but newly-appointed boss Daly will be considering alternative formations as he assesses his squad.
Cameron Elliott and Eoin Kenny are both alternatives to Jamie Gullan down the centre of the attack.
A triple introduction of Cameron Dummigan, Cameron McJannett and Patrick McEleney led to a second-half comeback for Derry against Sligo, and all three are in contention here.
Ronan Boyce, Sam Todd and Sadou Diallo are the players at risk of missing out in defence and midfield respectively.
Dundalk possible starting lineup:
Munro; Davies, Muller, Boyle, Bradshaw, Johnson; Durrant, Doyle, Animasahun, Horgan; Gullan
Derry City possible starting lineup:
Maher; Dummigan, McElneny, McJannett, Doherty; McEleney, O’Reilly, Patching; McMullan, Hoban, Duffy
We say: Dundalk 1-3 Derry City
While Dundalk will be hoping that home advantage can swing things in their favour, facing the division’s joint-top goalscorers is unlikely to lead to a positive result. With that in mind, we feel that Derry will run out fairly-convincing victors on Friday night.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.