Due to international call-ups, there are only five Irish League games taking place this weekend but hopefully, there will still be plenty of action.
There are only six games left until the end of the season and at the top Linfield are six points clear of David Jeffrey’s Ballymena. They would look to be hot favourites at this stage but with this being the last weekend, and teams from the top and bottom halves of the table still to face each other a final twist in the plot can’t be ruled out.
At the bottom end, the relegation fight is a battle between Ards and Newry who are almost certain to be in the bottom two come the end of the season. Newry as it stands, would be relegated as they sit bottom and Ards would play off against a team from the Championship. What team that is depends on which ones are successful in gaining the relevant licences to play in the top flight. Presently, only a point separates Ards and Newry and they are set to face off against each other one more time.
Another interesting battle is right in the middle of the table. Currently, the top three sides in the Irish League automatically qualify for Europe with fourth to seventh playing off for the final spot meaning one team in the bottom half still has a shot at qualifying.
So at the moment, it would be Glentoran that would be competing with Glenavon, Cliftonville and Coleraine for that final European spot. But only seven points separate 10th place Warrenpoint Town from the Glens, and all these sides still in the mix have one more game against each other. Again this is dependent on teams achieving the licences to play in Europe.
This week’s fixtures start tonight with Dungannon and Linfield live on BBCNI Two and continue tomorrow. The full fixture list is as follows- all games at 15:00 tomorrow unless otherwise stated:-
Dungannon Swifts v Linfield (tonight at 19:45)
Institute v Coleraine (tomorrow at 13:00)
Ards v Crusaders
Ballymena United v Warrenpoint Town
Newry City v Glenavon (tomorrow at 17:30)
This week Rodney is first up with his predictions:-
Rodney
Dungannon Swifts 0-2 Linfield
Ards 0-3 Crusaders
Ballymena United 3-0 Warrenpoint Town
Institute 1-2 Coleraine
Newry City 1-2 Glenavon
Keith O’D
Dungannon Swifts 1-3 Linfield
Ards 0-2 Crusaders
Ballymena United 2-1 Warrenpoint Town
Institute 0-1 Coleraine
Newry City 1-1 Glenavon
Darren
Dungannon Swifts 0-2 Linfield
Ards 0-4 Crusaders
Ballymena United 3-1 Warrenpoint Town
Institute 1-2 Coleraine
Newry City 1-Glenavon 3
Henry
Dungannon Swifts 0-3 Linfield
Ards 0-3 Crusaders
Ballymena United 2-1 Warrenpoint Town
Institute 1-2 Coleraine
Newry City 1 Glenavon 2
Adrian
Dungannon Swifts 0-2 Linfield
Ards 0-2 Crusaders
Ballymena United 2-1 Warrenpoint Town
Institute 1-Coleraine 3
Newry City 0-3 Glenavon
Cameron
Dungannon Swifts 0-2 Linfield
Ards 0-4 Crusaders
Ballymena United 3-1 Warrenpoint Town
Institute 1-1 Coleraine
Newry City 0-2 Glenavon
That’s it for this week, we hope you enjoy whatever game you’re heading to tonight/tomorrow and we’ll see you next week for more Irish football coverage.
NB: we will bring you our full updated prediction league leaderboard for NI and ROI next week.
