Shamrock Rovers face off with mid-table Bohemians at the Tallaght Stadium this Friday night as the home side look to remain top of the table after a fantastic run to this point just past the halfway stage.
This stint of form has seen Ireland’s most successful club make early strides towards another League of Ireland Premier Division for what will be a fourth in a row.
Morning, lads 👋 pic.twitter.com/wt4uAHrOrT— Shamrock Rovers FC ☘️ (@ShamrockRovers) June 23, 2022
Morning, lads 👋 pic.twitter.com/wt4uAHrOrT
The title is far from secured, however, but with a healthy five-point gap on second place, fans will be confident of making it four in a row in Ireland’s top tier.
Shamrock have won 13 games from the 20 they've played so far, and with only four defeats and three draws, they remain the team to beat in Ireland. On the other hand, second-placed Dundalk did in fact beat them as recently as two games ago.
It now means the club have lost two of their past five games, which does now put them in their worst run of form across the season to date. What's more, the victory for Dundalk cut the gap from eight to five, while also boasting a game in hand.
Now, should Shamrock fail to get all three points here, the league title race could be blown wide open. Midfield star, Ronan Finn, was sent off in the loss to Dundalk and now misses this game and the experienced Chris McCann likely comes into midfield instead.
Stephen Bradley's side will be confident of all three points, however, as their defensive record to date has been nothing short of incredible.
Only 13 goals have gone in from the 20 games played, and with 33 goals scored of their own too, they sit as the second-best attacking side behind Derry City's 34 goals.
As for Bohemian, they've put together a decent run of form in their past few games, as they beat Shelbourne following on from a 3-0 loss to St Patrick's Athletic, but with victories over Sligo Rovers, UCD, and a draw with the high-flying Derry City, manager Keith Long will be relatively happy with their current form, despite a loss to Dundalk within the past five games too.
These two sides also met as recently as two months ago, and Shamrock left Dalymount Park with all three points after goals from Andrew Lyons and Daniel Mandroiu secured the win in a 3-1 victory.
Shamrock should get the job done once more, and Forebet predicts they’ll win here and for the game to see under 2.5 goals.