All-Ireland Hurling Championship match predictions and betting tips: Banner County to get back on track

Best bets

Clare -2
2pts 5-4 BoyleSports, Paddy Power

Tipperary to be leading at half-time
2pts 15-8 Paddy Power

Tipperary-Draw double result 
1pt 33-1 BoyleSports

Allianz Hurling League predictions

Cork v Clare

2pm Sunday

Cork and Clare are under seismic pressure after losing their opening rounds last week and this is a game of huge magnitude as a result.

Waterford were back to something like their best last weekend in defeating Cork and Pat Ryan's men are in danger of falling to the bottom of the heap in Munster. The fact they are still depending on Seamus Harnedy, Conor Lehane and Patrick Horgan is worrying as they are all the wrong side of 30 although Shane Barrett and Alan Connolly came out of their latest duel with plenty of credit.

Clare suffered somewhat of a collapse against Limerick but they can count themselves unlucky as they suffered some horrid blows at crucial stages. They were hit with a goal resulting from a mishit free which got their opponents' tails up and the second goal probably should have been kept out by their goalkeeper, while the third could easily have been disallowed due to a square ball.

They were in complete disarray in the closing stages but they controlled a lot of the game which not many teams can say when playing Limerick and they still are a potent force going forward.

This Cork team have failed to convince and I'm still confident Clare are capable of winning an All-Ireland so I'd expect the Brian Lohan's men to get the job done with a few to spare.

Limerick v Tipperary

RTE, 4pm Sunday

Limerick will be buoyed by their opening victory and they typically grow stronger as they delve deeper into the championship so Tipperary have a big task usurping the champions on their home turf.

With the calibre of forwards Tipperary have, they should be able to keep pace with the home team for large parts of the game but they will find it difficult to defy the fourth-quarter surge that has become synonymous with this Limerick side.

Limerick's half-back line typically hold their position, which should allow Gearoid O'Connor and Jason Forde to utilise their accuracy from long range, while Jake Morris has been in excellent scoring form this year.

Tipperary will want to come out of the blocks fast and Limerick have gone in behind at half-time in each of their last four games. These sides played out a draw 12 months ago and a similar result is possible if Tipperary can withstand a late barrage.

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