Dundalk vs St Patrick’s Athletic Match Analysis and Prediction

2 years ago 312

Dundalk will be hosting St Patrick’s Athletic on Friday with the opportunity to move six points clear of their fourth-placed opponents in the League of Ireland Premeir Division.

On the other hand, St Patrick’s Athletic, who have played a game more than their hosts, will move into third spot if they can win by at least a two-goal margin.

Dundalk finished in the sixth spot last term, and would have been hoping for a fast start to the season, but it took until the back end of April for Stephen O’Donnell’s side to get on track.

Having won just one of their opening seven matches, seven victories have come from the following 10, including their current run of three on the bounce.

Only a few clean sheets have come in between, but the 2-1 victory away at second-placed Derry City has helped bring the Lilywhites back into title contention.

While their is still an eight-point gap to Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk are now the form team in the division, even if they were far from convincing against Finn Harps last time out.

Daniel Kelly’s second-half goal proved to be the only goal of the contest, the midfielder taking his tally to four for the season.

Meanwhile, after winning four of their first six matches this season, St Patrick’s found themselves in early title contention, but it has taken 12 matches to succeed in as many fixtures.

Positively, a three-game winless run was ended last time out as Tim Clancy’s side claimed a 3-0 victory over seventh-placed Bohemians.

Tunde Owolabi, scored all the three goals, a remarkable turn around in form after only scoring once in his previous appearance this season.

Clancy will hope the hat-trick acts as a much-needed catalyst, last year’s runners-up now within four points of Derry who are currently hold that position.

Dundalk vs St Patrick’s Athletic head to head

The two clubs have previously met on 75 occasions across all competitions, where Dundalk have claimed 27 victories while St Patrick’s have won 34, and they have drawn in 14. Dundalk have scored 97 goals and conceded 94. In their last five meetings, Dundalk have won once, St Patrick three with one draw.

St Patrick’s Athletic 0-2 Dundalk 28/05/21

Dundalk 1-4 St Patrick’s Athletic 08/08/21

St Patrick’s Athletic 3-1 Dundalk 22/10/21

St Patrick’s Athletic 1-0 Dundalk 25/10/21

St Patrick’s Athletic 0-0 Dundalk 08/04/22

Dundalk latest home form

Dundalk have recently been on a good run of form at home, as they have been unbeaten in their eight most recent matches. They managed to defeat Bohemians 3-1 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored 13 goals and conceded four.

Dundalk 2-0 UCD 01/04/22

Dundalk 2-1 Sligo Rovers 15/04/22

Dundalk 2-1 Shelbourne 22/04/22

Dundalk 4-1 Drogheda United 29/04/22

Dundalk 3-1 Bohemians 13/05/22

Dundalk latest away form

Dundalk have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They lost 1-0 away to Shamrock Rovers on April 18 in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored five goals and conceded four.

St Patrick’s Athletic 0-0 Dundalk 08/04/22

Shamrock Rovers 1-0 Dundalk 18/04/22

UCD 2-2 Dundalk 06/05/22

Derry City 1-2 Dundalk 20/05/22

Finn Harps 0-1 Dundalk 23/05/22

St Patrick’s Athletic latest home form

St Patrick’s have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just two of their six most recent matches. They managed to defeat Bohemians 3-0 in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored six goals and conceded six.

St Patrick’s Athletic 0-0 Dundalk 08/04/22

St Patrick’s Athletic 2-0 Finn Harps 22/04/22

St Patrick’s Athletic 0-4 Derry City 29/04/22

St Patrick’s Athletic 1-2 Shelbourne 20/05/22

St Patrick’s Athletic 3-0 Bohemians 23/05/22

St Patrick’s Athletic latest away form

St Patrick’s have recently been on a good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their four most recent matches. They drew 1-1 with Sligo Rovers in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded three.

Shamrock Rovers 1-0 St Patrick’s Athletic 15/04/22

UCD 1-2 St Patrick’s Athletic 18/04/22

Drogheda United 0-4 St Patrick’s Athletic 06/05/22

Derry City 0-0 St Patrick’s Athletic 09/05/22

Sligo Rovers 1-1 St Patrick’s Athletic 14/05/22

Dundalk news

Mark Connolly, Robbie Benson and Stephen Bradley are all likely to be brought back into the Dundalk starting XI after they were rested in the game against Finn Harps.

Andy Boyle, Keith Ward and John Martin may all drop to the substitutes’ bench after being brought into the side last time out.

St Patrick’s Athletic news

St Patrick’s enter the contest without any injury issues, and Clancy is not likely to make changes to his starting XI who performed impressively in the game against Bohemians.

That would to lead to playmaker Mark Doyle remaining on the substitutes’ bench for this game, alongside Woverhampton Wanderers loanee Jack Scott.

Prediction and Odds

Given the competitive records of the clubs this season, this has the potential of a hard-fought contest, one which could prove pivotal in the race for European qualification.

However, St Patrick’s have won three of the last five meetings between the sides, and we predict a draw or away win.

Odds: 1 2.35 X 2.05 2 2.20