One of the teams still in with a chance of booking a European spot for next season in the Irish Premier League is St Patricks Athletic.
The side from the capital head to city rivals UCD Dublin on Friday looking to enhance their chances of a top-three finish this season.
The visitors are certainly in a far better league position than their struggling rivals. St Patricks are currently fifth-place in the standings and six points outside the European spots. However, they have played an extra game than third-place Bohemians and even potentially more crucially two extra games than fourth-place Derry.
In contrast to the visitor’s position UCD Dublin have experienced a difficult campaign and are only off the bottom of the table courtesy of the fact that their goal difference is inferior to Finn Harps.
The home side head into this clash as underdogs. Forebet predicts that their struggles will continue with the away side grabbing an away win in a low-scoring encounter.
When it comes to goals both sides have struggled to hit the back of the net this season in the Irish top-flight.
In fact, UCD are the lowest scorers in the league, while only the home team have scored fewer goals than the visitors this season. The home side also have the second-worst defensive record in the league.
St Patricks lack of goals has contributed to their last seven games in the Irish Premier League producing under 2.5 goals. UCD’s last four league matches have also produced under 2.5 goals. This game could well follow suit.
The home side’s hopes of moving out of the relegation play-off spots have been all-but ended by a run of nine straight defeats in the Irish Premier League. It seems that UCD’s losing run in the league is not ending anytime soon.