St Patrick's Athletic vs Dundalk - prediction, team news, lineups

Hoping to trim the shortage to the apical of the Irish Premier Division table, St Patrick's Athletic volition invited Dundalk to Richmond Park connected Friday.

The Saints are looking for conscionable their 2nd league triumph successful 4 games, portion the Lilywhites are aiming to extremity their top-flight losing streak.

Match preview

Stephen Kenny's St Pat's finished 5th successful the Irish Premier Division past season, and portion a instrumentality to European shot would correspond a commendable campaign, the nine are not yet retired of the rubric race.

The Saints presently beryllium 3rd successful the table, wherever their tally of 42 points has them 8 down leaders Shamrock Rovers, though the Red Army person a crippled successful manus connected the reigning champions.

However, it remains to beryllium seen whether Kenny's broadside tin capitalise connected their advantage, considering their 1-1 gully with Waterford connected July 10 means they person present triumphed successful conscionable 1 of their past 3 Premier Division outings.

To marque matters worse, St Pat's person mislaid three, drawn 2 and won lone 3 of their 8 astir caller league fixtures, a mediocre instrumentality of 11 points from a imaginable 24.

Some supporters volition instrumentality bosom from the information that the Saints bushed Wexford 2-1 successful the FAI Cup past Friday, but detractors would item that they needed a 90th-minute victor from Aidan Keena to get the amended of a second-tier opponent.

Meanwhile, Ciaran Kilduff's Dundalk enjoyed a beardown tally of 4 victories and 1 gully betwixt mid-May and mid-June, but they person since fallen into a losing pattern.

In their astir caller league clash, the Lilywhites were downed 2-1 by struggling Drogheda - the Drogs' archetypal triumph successful 9 games - a dire effect that extended their tally of defeats to 3 matches.

That mediocre signifier has seen Kilduff's men's European hopes severely damaged, fixed they are present fourth, 7 points down their third-placed opponents.

However, Dundalk brought their losing streak to an extremity past Friday, progressing beyond St Mocha's FC with a convincing 3-1 triumph implicit the Leinster Senior League side.

The triumph whitethorn person been against a weaker team, but fans volition beryllium hoping that it marks a turning constituent for the Lilywhites, who volition besides gully assurance up of this week's clash from their grounds of 1 decision successful their past six distant games.

St Patrick's Athletic League of Ireland Premier form:

St Patrick's Athletic signifier (all competitions):

Dundalk League of Ireland Premier form:

Dundalk signifier (all competitions):

Team News

St Patrick's Athletic right-back Ronan Boyce has missed the past 2 games, and is expected to beryllium sidelined erstwhile again connected Friday, with James Brown apt flank centre-backs Sean Hoare, Joe Redmond and Luke Turner successful his place.

At the other extremity of the pitch, close winger Zack Elbouzedi and striker Max Mata are some acceptable to beryllium retired arsenic they retrieve from injuries of their own, though Aidan Keena and Kian Leavy should beryllium connected manus to enactment striker Ryan Edmondson up top.

Dundalk are without a mates of forwards, too, arsenic winger Norman Garbett and striker Daniel Mullen proceed enactment their mode into contention pursuing respective hamstring and musculus injuries.

In their absence, striker Leonardo Gaxha could beryllium joined successful onslaught by a trio of Mayowa Animasahun, Ronan Teahan and Daryl Horgan.

Elsewhere, goalkeeper Conor Kearns remains retired owed to the genu wounded helium sustained successful April, portion centre-back Conor O'Keeffe has missed the past 14 matches and volition beryllium unavailable connected Friday.

With that successful mind, Kilduff could opt for a centre-half pairing of Robert Cornwall and Bobby Burns successful beforehand of shot-stopper Enda Minogue. 

St Patrick's Athletic imaginable starting lineup:

Rogers; Redmond, Hoare, Turner; Brown, Keena, Lennon, Palmer, McClelland; Leavy, Keena; Edmondson

Dundalk imaginable starting lineup:

Minogue; J Wilson, Cornwall, Burns, T Wilson; Buckley, Dervin; Animasahun, Teahan, Horgan; Gaxha

We say: St Patrick's Athletic 1-1 Dundalk

St Pat's person been inconsistent and acold from their champion successful caller weeks, but they volition beryllium assured of avoiding decision astatine the precise slightest connected Friday, motivated by the accidental to enactment wrong show of Shamrock Rovers.

Dundalk whitethorn person mislaid 3 league games connected the bounce up of this match, but their resilient distant grounds suggests that they could clasp retired for a constituent connected the road.

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