Bohemians vs Dundalk

Bohemians welcome Dundalk for this Irish Premier League round clash at Dalymount Park in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, early Saturday morning Beijing time. This is the first tier of Irish football, but the level is very high by global standards. A big percentage promising young Irish players leave the country early in their career with an aim to succeed in United Kingdom or elsewhere in Europe. However, both Bohemians and Dundalk are capable of playing pretty good, often quite offensive football and decent match by Irish standards is on the cards here. By raw class, the visitors are the second-best team in this league, not much worse than Shamrock who now top the standings. Indeed, Dundalk currently occupy the second place the standings with a total of 46 points to their account. Their goal difference is also good – 36:17. They are better than the hosts in all areas of the game. The biggest difference in their favor is in offensive quality – especially in the strikers’ and offensive midfielders’ individual skill level.

The hosts are having a somewhat disappointing season taking into account their financial resources and players’ total market value according to Transfermartk.com. They are currently only in the 6th place with 32 points in the pocket. They have potential for better performances but I would have too see them really improve before raising their power rating.. In their most recent match they were pretty lame, especially offensively and lost to Sligo Rovers 1-2 away from home as favorites according to the bookies. They did record respectable 15 scoring attempts but only managed two shots on target. Sligo also had more passes, completed passes, attacks and dangerous attacks. With this kind of performance, they most probably will not beat the strong visitors! Dundalk, on the other hand are in terrific form and have lost just one of their latest 16 matches! This happened on the 8th of July away from home against a decent team Drogheda despite Dundalk being the much better team with a lot more ball possession (68%) and goal attempts. Even so, the betting market sees the hosts as slim favorites here. The home advantage is there of course but Bohemians do not have the best fans and have won just four matches at home so far this season. In my opinion, the visitors are narrow favorites here and as a draw would be enough for my fans and me the recommended bet has a very high chance of winning. They were good in their most recent match against dangerous team Derry City but it was a 1-1 draw. Before this they easily crushed Longford 4-0 in a FAI Cup battle and Finn Harps 3-0 – both at home. Let’s also remember that Dundalk have conceded just three goals in their latest seven matches and have an excellent defensive line.