SHAMROCK ROVERS VS DERRY CITY.
Shamrock Rovers look strong enough to make a major statement in Friday’s clash between the champions and their closest current challengers for the summit – Derry City.
Stephen Bradley’s men enjoyed a solid win on Monday night over Sligo Rovers that ensures they hold top spot entering a key phase of games during May. Graham Burke, on as a second-half substitute, notched a hat-trick in that 3-1 win and all three strikes reeked of quality.
Burke may or may not start on Friday, but it would certainly underline how confident Bradley is if he doesn’t. And he has good reason to be after the Hoops extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches. Rovers have won seven and drawn one of their eight home league games to date in 2022 and could actually be seen as decent value at 8/11 for the win here.
Derry, who face an anxious wait to discover the extent of the hamstring injury to star midfielder Patrick McEleney, have suffered a recent drop in form that has led to two draws in matches they should have won. Ruaidhri Higgins’ men were unconvincing in a 1-1 home draw with Bohemians a fortnight ago – needing a contentious penalty award to get on level terms – and then failed to find the net in a 0-0 Monday night draw with St Patrick’s Athletic.
The visitors will need to defend very well to stop the champions in this contest with Rovers having racked up an impressive home tally of 17 goals in eight games at Tallaght Stadium already. They scored at a rate of 1.64 per game when winning the title in 2021, so it seems they may be a better vintage brewing this year.
We’re backing the hosts to continue their good home form and fear Derry could be in for a long night unless they get the first goal or some sort of early foothold in the game. A 3-1 home win isn’t beyond the realms of possibility if Rovers really want to send a message to the team in second place.
Prediction:Shamrock rovers to win.
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