GAA fanatic Keith Merchant (@kmerchant3) shares his thoughts on Sunday's All-Ireland Championship hurling final.
Galway v Waterford | Sunday 3rd September 2017, 15:30 | Sky Sports
All roads lead to GAA headquarters on Sunday as the battle to be crowned champions of the All Ireland hurling comes to an end. It's an unmissable clash and one I can’t wait for.
Galway and Waterford have clashed 10 times in the Championship and Waterford have been victorious on every occasion. Galway are coming into Sunday's final from a different place, mind.
Galway
They have played in seven Liam McCarthy Cup finals since they last won it, including one replay and haven't got their hands on it. Still, they arrive at this decided as odds-on favourites.
Galway’s physique and power all over the field, especially up front, has been well flagged, of course there is the presence of a talent like the mercurial Joe Canning.
They have earned the favourites tag with a succession of quality displays but they haven't hit the net since beating a poor Dublin side. Wins over Offaly and Wexford, albeit the latter are an improved side they do not automatically boost the form of a side going for All Ireland glory. And against Tipperary saw them pull out all the stops to win by a single point.
Waterford
Waterford form can also be looked at anyway you like. They lost to Cork in the Munster Championship and then beat them in the All Ireland semi final; on the day Cork were terrible and without doing Waterford a disservice, they had that game over very early so it was hard to gauge them.
They finally beat Kilkenny after extra-time but weren't convincing, and to be honest, they were beating a Kilkenny side in transition and weren't impressive as Galway were against Wexford, for example.
It's a brilliant game for the neutrals and one way or another there will be amazing scenes as a famine will be over. In all the talk of systems and sweepers etc. Galway will want to set the record straight and where better to set it than on the biggest stage in September.
The betting angles
Their are multiple bets here but I'll keep it to four – the draw at 10/1 (Paddy Power) given that I expect a tight but physical game, is almost impossible to resist.
The second selection is Galway to win by 1-5 points at 7/4 (Paddy Power) as it will be a proper tight battle until 70 minutes.
The third selection is Joe Canning to be nominated for the Man of the Match award at 5/2 (Paddy Power) as he will be vital to Galway winning.
My fourth and final selection is Galway subs to score Over 1.5 Points at 6/5 (Paddy Power) – it’s a great price.
Best Bets
Galway v Waterford – Draw (10/1 Paddy Power)
Galway v Waterford – Galway to win by 1-5 points (7/4 Paddy Power)
Galway v Waterford – Joe Canning to be Man of the Match (5/2 Paddy Power)
Galway v Waterford – Galway subs to score Over 1.5 Points (6/5 Paddy Power)
