All-Ireland hurling championship predictions, odds and betting tips

Free GAA hurling tips, best bets and predictions for this year's All-Ireland hurling championship.

Best bets

Limerick and Waterford to meet in final
2pts 5-1 Betfair, BoyleSports, Paddy Power

Limerick and Cork to meet in final
2pts 15-2 Betfair, BoyleSports, Paddy Power

Cork to reach All-Ireland semi-finals
2pts 10-11 Betfair, BoyleSports, Paddy Power

Waterford to reach All-Ireland final
1pt 7-4 Betfair, BoyleSports, Paddy Power

All-Ireland championship preview

Class is permanent, form is temporary.

Limerick won just one of their five games in the Allianz League. They scored just 11 points in an opening-round loss to Wexford, their lowest score in a league fixture since March 2010.

They suffered a six-point defeat to Galway, went down by nine points to Cork and could only manage a draw against Clare.

Any other side would have been a major market drifter following a campaign in which their sole win came against Offaly.

However, it says a lot about how dominant the reigning champions were in last year's All-Ireland championship that they have been pushed out only to 10-11 from 8-13 to lift Liam MacCarthy this summer.

Munster look to holds the key to this year's championship, with Limerick, Waterford and Cork making most appeal of the main contenders.

Galway, deserving Leinster favourites, probably have a higher quality panel than Kilkenny but Brian Cody's side are impossible to count out in provincial action. For all that, the Cats probably lack the X-factor that Limerick and Waterford boast.

On top of that, it's still early days for Henry Shefflin as Galway boss.

Wexford's League form has been encouraging but questions can be asked over whether their opposition performed up to scratch in the group stage, and they were readily outclassed against Waterford. Dublin are too inconsistent to be considered legitimate contenders.

Clare and Tipperary failed to catch fire in the League. The Banner showed plenty of potential in last year's championship but look a step below the top sides around, while Tipperary are in transition under new manager Colm Bonnar.

The Premier County are also set to be without sharp-shooter Seamus Callanan for a significant portion of the Munster action.

Ultimately, Limerick are still the standard-setters as they chase a fourth title in five years.

Waterford and Cork are progressing all the time and have well-coached squads with top-drawer talent, but the Treaty County are known to time their run in order to peak at the business end of this competition.

Their League form is not completely relevant considering they won just two of their five games before going on to do the Munster and All-Ireland double last year.

However, with Waterford, Cork and Galway on the rise, it's hard to see the value in banking on Limerick at a shade of odds-on to go the distance, having to navigate some choppy waters along the way.

Instead, with Munster looking the strongest division, the best way into the All-Ireland markets could be backing Limerick to make the final with either Waterford or Cork. A clash with the Deise is 5-1, while a repeat pairing of last year's decider is 15-2.

That looks fair value, as does 7-4 about Waterford advancing to the decider and 10-11 for Cork to make the semi-finals.

All three teams have shown enough in recent seasons to make an extended run in this year's championship.

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