League of Ireland Friday match tips and football betting preview

From 7.45pm Friday

St Patrick's Athletic have been heavily backed but they may still offer a little value in Friday's League of Ireland game at Sligo Rovers.

Saints edged a scrappy opener against Cork, a match most notable for the physical nature of Harry Kenny's side.

They looked a somewhat different animal to the one trained for so long by Liam Buckley, who is now at Sligo.

Buckley will be confident he can cope with the visitors, and a bumper home crowd will urge Rovers on, but they lacked quality in a forgettable 1-1 draw against Dundalk on week one.

That was an excellent result but clearly something of a fluke and Sligo hardly strung two passes together, as Buckley said afterwards.
This St Patrick's team has an outside chance of winning the league.

They have immense squad depth and, given that Chris Forrester barely had any influence against Cork and is in need of game-time, they should be open to plenty of improvement. They are solid defensively.

League leaders Derry City go to fast-starting Shamrock Rovers and, while Rovers are fancied, it is hard to advise backing them at around 1-2.

It is early days, while Derry will have derived plenty of confidence from the win over UCD.

There looks to be a bit of value in Division One, which begins this week. Shelbourne are hot favourites to win the division and, while they should be too strong for Galway, they are probably not the certainties people think they are for the title.

Indeed, Longford Town look worth an interest at a big price. They have made some excellent signings and have impressed in pre-season, with a budget that is probably not far off that of the favourites.

Longford are also a big price to beat Limerick on Friday. Athlone seem to be vastly improved this season and should take care of Wexford in Lissywollen.

Recommendations
St Patrick's draw no bet
2pts 4-7 general
Longford to win Division One
1pt 20-1 BoyleSports
Longford
2pts 11-5 general
Athlone Town
3pts 6-5 general
Shelbourne
3pts 10-11 general

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