There are five fixtures in the 2019 League of Ireland Premier Division on Friday 14th June. Arguably the biggest match of the day takes place at Dalymount Park as Bohemians welcome Shamrock Rovers in a Dublin derby.
Bohemians begin the week sitting in third place with 34 points from their twenty matches played. That leaves them 10 points behind second place Shamrock Rovers who have 44 points from the same number of games. Both teams have a game in hand on the leaders, Dundalk.
If Bohemians want to push for the top two this season, they need to win this match. They come into this game on the back of an exciting 5-3 win over Finn Harps last time out. That game was played two weeks ago and prior to that Bohemians defeated Cork City 2-0 in the League Cup.
However, overall form in the League of Ireland Premier Division has not been great and Bohemians have won only one of their last six games. There have been four defeats and one draw in that run of six matches.
Home form shows just one win in their last five league matches and Bohemians have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of the last four on home soil. They have also failed to find the back of the net in three of their last five League of Ireland Premier Division games at Dalymount Park.
Shamrock Rovers know they cannot afford to drop points in their pursuit of Dundalk at the top the table. They come into this game having been held to a 2-2 draw at home by Derry City, a game they would have been hoping to win.
Nonetheless, Shamrock Rovers are undefeated in their last four league matches, picking up three straight wins prior to the draw with Derry City. They defeated UCD and Finn Harps away plus Cork city at home.
Trends show Shamrock Rovers have won six of their last eight away League of Ireland Premier Division games. They have scored at least one goal in each of those eight matches and have three clean sheets in the last five.
Looking ahead to the team news and Bohemians will be without the suspended Derek Pender. Daniel Grant is out with a hamstring injury while Robert McCourt, Dinny Corcoran, Promise Omocher and Cristian Magerusan are doubtful.
Shamrock Rovers are without Sam Bone who has a hamstring injury while Dylan Watts and Aaron McEneff are doubtful.
Bohemians have a good recent record against Shamrock Rovers but their current form is poor. Shamrock Rovers know they need to win this game to keep the pressure on Dundalk and we could see an away win, with both teams scoring.