Monday, June 23

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Sports Mole previews Monday's League of Ireland Premier clash between St Patrick's Athletic and Derry City, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

As both sides fight for the European places in the League of Ireland's Premier Division, St Patrick's Athletic will face Derry City in a six-pointer at Richmond Park on Monday.

Saints will be looking to bounce back after consecutive losses, while the Candystripes will be hoping to earn back-to-back wins.

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Match preview

Stephen Kenny's St Patrick's have stumbled in the race for Conference League football next term, and after dropping eight points across their last three matches, as well as winning just one of their last five, they will be desperate to stop their descent down the table.

On Friday, Saints were disappointingly beaten 3-1 by seventh-placed Galway United, though the boss could point to the fact that opposition goalkeeper Evan Watts put in a man of the match performance with 10 saves as a valid reason for failing to recover once they went behind.

On the other hand, it could be argued that Kenny's side's poor finishing saw them drop three points, and considering that they are now fifth in the Premier Division, trailing third-placed Bohemians by exactly three points, that result looks especially damaging.

As they aim to get back on track and gain ground on their rivals, the hosts could take heart from the fact that their 1-0 defeat against Shelbourne on June 16 was their first in more than 12 months at Richmond Park.

A ninth triumph of the campaign would be enough to lift St Patrick's up into third place, leapfrogging Derry and Bohemians in a best-case scenario, though a third consecutive loss could see them fall down to seventh place.

Meanwhile, Tiernan Lynch's Derry ended their four-game winless run last time out, and following that up with a victory over their rivals would give them a timely mental boost.

The Candystripes were also in action on Friday when they earned their first clean sheet in more than six weeks with a 1-0 win over Shelbourne, courtesy of a 55th-minute strike from Michael Duffy and a solid showing from Kevin Holt, Mark Connolly and Hayden Cann in the backline.

That hard-fought victory brought Lynch's men up to fourth in the table, where their 31-point tally has them only two shy of third-placed Bohemians and three behind second-placed Drogheda United.

Knowing that taking maximum points could be pivotal in the race for Europe, the visitors will draw confidence from not only their win against Shels, but the fact that they have lost just one of their last four on the road, winning two and drawing the other.

That being said, Derry have scored one goal in four of their last five away clashes, so they will need to produce another strong defensive display if they are to reach the top three on Monday.

St Patrick's Athletic League of Ireland Premier form:

Derry City League of Ireland Premier form:

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Team News

St Patrick's have a relatively fit squad for this match, though midfielder Romal Palmer remains sidelined with the hamstring injury that has kept him out since February.

Up top, Kenny opted for a strike partnership of Aidan Keena and Mason Melia on Friday, and while they lost, they did force 10 saves and a man of the match display from the Galway goalkeeper, so expect them to start once again.

As for Derry, they will be without the versatile Cameron Dummigan once again, and Ronan Boyce should be ready to line up on the right-hand side of Lynch's five-man defence.

Elsewhere, there are doubts about the fitness of midfielder Sadou Diallo, who picked up an injury against Shelbourne, and left-back Ben Doherty, who has not featured at all in June.

If neither are available, then Robbie Benson could join Carl Winchester in the centre of the park, while Sam Todd operates at left wing-back.

St Patrick's Athletic possible starting lineup:

Anang; Sjoberg, Redmond, Grivosti, McClelland; Elbouzedi, Lennon, Baggley, Power; Melia, Keena 

Derry City possible starting lineup:

Maher; R Boyce, Cann, Connolly, Holt, Todd; Whyte, Benson, Winchester, Duffy; L Boyce 

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We say: St Patrick's Athletic 1-1 Derry City

 

Neither side are in the strongest form ahead of this clash, though Derry will be more confident after their away win last time out.

That being said, St Patrick's have been exceptionally resilient at home, so despite losing at Richmond Park earlier this month, they are likely to walk away with a share of the spoils on Monday.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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