Two sides fighting at opposite ends of the League of Ireland Premier Division will square off on Friday, as University College Dublin welcome Derry City to the UCD Bowl.
A difficult run of form has seen the visitors drop to third spot in the top flight, now sitting eight points off the top spot, while their hosts find themselves rooted to the foot of the division.
Match preview
After winning promotion back to the Irish top flight last year, University College Dublin had to battle through a tough first half of the new campaign, as they did not pick up a single victory from their opening 14 outings.
The Students were then finally able to put a first league win on the board in mid-May, as they defeated Finn Harps 1-0 away from home with Liam Kerrigan hitting the only goal of the game in the final 10 minutes.
They have since failed to add another notch to their wins column in four further attempts, though, firstly suffering 3-0 and 2-0 defeats to Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne respectively, before earning a ninth point of the season from a 1-1 draw with Sligo Rovers, as Dylan Duffy equalised in the 69th minute to earn them a share of the spoils.
Looking to build on that stalemate against the sixth-placed side, Andrew Myler's men travelled to take on St Patrick's Athletic last time out, and they fell just short as Alex Nolan's late goal was not enough to spark a comeback after an Eoin Doyle put the hosts 2-0 up with a brace.
Such a result leaves them rooted to the foot of the division, two points behind Finn Harps in the relegation playoff place and 10 points adrift of automatic safety, meaning the former may be the best they can hope for, and they will aim to make an immediate return to winning ways to improve their chances of avoiding a drop back to the second tier.
They will face a tough test, though, as the visitors arrive hoping to arrest a slump of their own.
Derry City made a strong start to the new league campaign, quickly putting themselves in the title race as they won seven of their opening nine games while going unbeaten, but they have since hit a tougher spell.
After a 7-1 thrashing of Friday's opponents, and a resounding 4-0 win over St Patrick's Athletic, the Red and White Army now find themselves without a victory in seven games in the Irish top flight, as back-to-back draws were followed by consecutive defeats at the hands of Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk and Sligo Rovers.
They head into Friday's game on the back of two disappointing stalemates, firstly sharing the spoils with strugglers Finn Harps, only thanks to an injury-time equaliser from Eoin Toal, before being pegged back at home to Drogheda United last time out as Matty Smith's opener was cancelled out in the final 15 minutes.
Having now dropped three points behind second-placed Dundalk and eight behind league leaders Shamrock Rovers, Derry will be desperate to take advantage of a contest against the league's basement side to return to winning ways and strengthen their standing at the top end of the division.
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Team News
UCD will likely remain without striker Colm Whelan, who has been out since mid-May after scoring four goals in the first 15 league games of the season, including a brace against second-placed Dundalk.
Young midfielder Alex Nolan will be pushing to break into the starting XI, having come off the bench to pull a goal back against St Patrick's Athletic last time out.
Derry City's line will be led by Jamie McGonigle, who has netted 10 goals in 19 league appearances so far this campaign.
Will Patching will be another attacking threat, with the midfielder chipping in with eight goals in the Irish top flight, while Matty Smith also added to his tally last time out.
Elsewhere, Shane McEleney and Cameron McJannet should again partner up in front of 21-year-old goalkeeper Brian Maher.
University College Dublin possible starting lineup:
Moore; Gallagher, Yoro, Todd, Osam; Caffrey, Dignam; Kerrigan, Keane, Nolan; Duffy
Derry City possible starting lineup:
Maher; Porter, S McEleney, McJannet, Coll; Dummigan, P Mceleney; Kavanagh, Patching, Smith; McGonigle
We say: University College Dublin 1-4 Derry City
Derry City find themselves far from their best, but we can only envisage them outclassing the basement side and arresting their slump on Friday.
The hosts do have a collection of promising young players, but the 7-1 win for Derry in the previous meeting suggests that UCD will struggle to match their opponents.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
