Galway United vs Shelbourne Predictions

John Caulfield’s reign as Galway United manager begins with the visit of Shelbourne, who are entitled to consider themselves potential FAI Cup winners at Terryland.

With Dundalk off to a slow start, the path to an FAI Cup final is certainly a little more feasible, and Shels will feel they should get the job done at Eamonn Deacy Park.

It might not be so simple, though. Shelbourne have not set the world alight against the weaker teams in the League of Ireland Premier Division and First Division Galway should be far better than they have shown so far, given their budget and squad.

In their defence, all of their games have been close, but confidence has dropped. Caulfield can be expected to galvanise his Galway troops and they should be competitive in this contest.

In Shane Duggan, they have a player capable of getting on the ball against a functional Shelbourne midfield and there is no getting away from the Reds’ continued struggles in front of goal. This tie could feasibly go beyond 90 minutes.