GAA: National Hurling League Saturday match previews and tips

Tipperary v Clare
Semple Stadium, 7pm Saturday

Tipperary and Clare open the 2019 National Hurling League on Saturday evening at Semple Stadium in what will be their second meeting of the year. Clare won by ten points when they met in the Munster League, but this is a different contest entirely.

These sides also met in the opening round of the league in 2018 with Clare winning by five points in front of their home crowd in Cusack Park and while Thurles presents a different challenge, the Banner men will fancy their chances against a Tipperary side attempting to rebuild after a disappointing season.

Tipperary started 2018 in top form, finishing top of the league, and all seemed rosy until a shock league final defeat to Kilkenny.

They failed to get their season back on track after that defeat and exited the championship in June. All-Ireland winning manager Liam Sheedy has been tasked with the job of getting Tipperary back to winning ways. A surprise Under-21 All-Ireland win in 2018 will have sparked hope and Sheedy is likely to bring a number of those players into his side.

Clare will feel they missed out in 2018 as they were the width of the post of an All-Ireland final, but they made huge strides and are going places.

They already have some silverware and it has been encouraging to see Tony Kelly returning to form. Kelly hit 2-3 in the Munster League win over Tipperary and his importance to Clare cannot be overstated.

The introduction of Colin Guilfoyle has brought another threat to their attack while Peter Duggan has been in top form for LIT, scoring 1-11 on Thursday against the Garda College.

Recommendation
Clare +2 on handicap
2pts 5-6 Paddy Power

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