Saturday's All-Ireland Football Championship match predictions and betting tips: Cork can cruise to victory over Clare

Best bets

Kerry over 1.5 goals
4pts 11-10 Paddy Power 

Cavan to lead at half-time
2pts 11-4 Paddy Power

Galway
2pts 13-8 BoyleSports 

Cork -3
5pts Evs Boylesports 

Cork over 1.5 goals
2pts 13-8 Boylesports

Weekend Football Championship previews

Kerry v Monaghan

3pm Saturday - GAAGO

Jack O'Connor has been around the block long enough to know Kerry are not purring right now. He put on a brave face and said all the right things after their Munster final victory over Clare but, deep down, he knows they are way off what is required to get their hands back on the Sam Maguire. 

Of the most frustrating factors for O'Connor is surely Kerry's recent lack of goals. They didn't even manage one on the way to claiming an 85th provincial title. They scored 0-18 against Cork and 0-23 in the win over Clare. It is hard to fathom they failed to find the net in either game. 

Expect that to change now that the All-Ireland series starts. Kerry are at home to a regressive Monaghan side in their opener and, with decent weather expected at Killarney, the floodgates could open. 

Goals win big games and Kerry will want to start working better opportunities and being more clinical. If the opportunity is there for simple points, they might still go for the jugular and look for goals instead. 

They have enough talent up front to create at least a half-dozen goal opportunities against a fragile Monaghan defence who conceded three to Cavan in Ulster and looked wide open. You can get a shade of odds against about two or more Kerry goals and that looks terrific value. It should be odds-on. 

Mayo v Cavan

5pm Saturday

Mayo must be kicking themselves wondering how they let a Connacht title slip through their fingers, given they were two points up with two minutes of normal time remaining in the Connacht final. 

There may have a slight hangover from that nasty shock so Cavan look decent value at 11-4 to lead at half-time. The Breffni boys exceeded expectation in Ulster, beating Monaghan and pushing Tyrone to extra-time, and it seems they have progressed rather than regressed under Raymond Galligan. 

Galway v Derry

5.30pm Saturday - GAAGO

The blockbuster fixture of the first round of the All-Ireland series is unquestionably Connacht champions Galway welcoming league champion Derry to Pearse Stadium. 

Derry have been installed as odds-on favourites, but that is not a fair reflection of where the two sides are at right now. 

Since Padraic Joyce took over the Tribesmen at the end of 2018, they’ve played 20 games against Ulster opposition in league and championship. Galway have won a remarkable 15 of those, and lost just four. It's a superb record and they obviously have the knack of how to unlock the Ulster code. 

Forget the meeting between these two sides in the league - Derry won by 3-10 to 1-11 - as Galway were missing a whole host of their main men. Damien Comer and Shane Walsh are now back and firing on all cylinders. They are genuine All-Ireland contenders and 13-8 is too big about a team brimming with confidence on the back of a Connacht final win over arch rivals Mayo. 

Clare v Cork

6pm Saturday

Cork lost their first three games in the league and relegation to Division 3 looked on the cards. 

They concluded the campaign with three wins and a draw with Armagh, and have brought that sort of form into the Munster championship. They kicked 3-13 in the win over Limerick and then led Kerry at half-time. 

Class prevailed in the end as Kerry are a cut above Cork right now, but the Rebels are on the up and well capable of getting out of this group in the All-Ireland series. 

BoyleSports have chalked up a three-point handicap for their trip to Ennis to face Clare and that looks too low. Cork are coming to the boil and should win this comfortably, by at least five or six. 

Kerry were lethargic in the Munster final and made Clare look better than they are.

Click for free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.