Galway will set up in their familiar 3-5-2, with Hugo Cunha in goal and a back three of Connor Barratt, Wasiri Williams, and Gianfranco Facchineri. The wing-backs, Jimmy Keohane and David Hurley, are the key men — they provide the width, the energy, and the delivery into the box. In midfield, Ed McCarthy and Aaron Bolger will sit in the double pivot, with Leigh Kavanagh pulling the strings slightly ahead. Up top, Frantz Pierrot and Stephen Walsh are the spearhead, and they are a handful for any defence. Pierrot is the one who can knife through the lines, while Walsh is the target man who wins the knockdowns.

Shelbourne, expected in a 4-4-2, will look to stay compact and hit on the break. They will concede possession, sit in a low block, and try to frustrate Galway into mistakes. Their wide midfielders will tuck in to make it a 4-4-2 that becomes a 4-5-1 without the ball, and they will rely on set-pieces and the occasional counter to nick something. This is a classic home-team-dominates, away-team-defends scenario. Galway will have the ball, but Shelbourne will make them work for every inch. The midfield dogfight will be real, and the team that wins the second balls will likely win the game — or at least avoid losing it.