League Preview: Galway United -v- Longford Town

GALWAY UNITED

The Tribesmen are looking to secure their second consecutive home win when they welcome Longford Town to Eamonn Deacy Park on Friday night (kick-off is at 7:45 pm).

The two newly-promoted teams met four times in the First Division last season with Tony Cousins' men recording two wins. Galway found just the one, while the remaining fixture ended in a draw.

Tommy Dunne's Galway will be looking to bounce back from a midweek 2-0 defeat to Cork City, and with the recent signing of left-back, Kevin Garcia, the home side could well have found a solution to their defensive woes which has seen them concede eight goals across all competitions to date this season.

“We know the Longford Town game is going to be a big one," Dunne said.

"Against Cork City, there was some aspects of the game I was pleased with. Again, we need to tighten up from set pieces but at no stage in the game did I think Cork City overly troubled us from open play.

"We have little time to think about the Cork City game, now our focus is fixed on the Longford Town game and on getting another positive result at home, preferably a win," the Dubliner concluded.

LONGFORD TOWN

The Town are fresh from a morale-boosting victory over Bray Wanderers that saw Pat Flynn and Gary Shaw grab the all-important goals.

A defeat to United would see Longford slip below their fellow new-boys in the Premier Division standings, something the travelling supporters will be hoping and praying against – after all, this is a match they will feel is a winnable one.

And in a league with so many strong teams, they won't be able to lose too many points at destinations like this if they want to survive, that is.

As reported by the Irish Mirror, Tony Cousins is pushing for a big win against his relative, and something akin to the 3-0 win they enjoyed in Galway's backyard last season surely wouldn't go amiss.

“It’s always nice when we face each other. I’m always looking out for his result – I was delighted we both got a win on the board in the last week,” Cousins joked.

“But I want to finish above him and Tommy will want Galway to finish above us. That’s the way it is,” the Longford boss revealed.

Referee: Adriano Reale

MATCH STATS

When these two outfits met in their first encounter of last season, Longford came away with a 1-0 win courtesy of a David O' Sullivan goal.

Mark Salmon's cracking long-range effort, netted in their 3-0 win in Galway back in 2014, was voted as the club's goal of the season.

BETTING

Galway 13/8; Draw 21/10; Longford 17/10.

PREDICTION

This will be an exciting encounter with lots of entertainments – both on the pitch and in the dugouts – and there should be a few goals on show. This one will end in a 2-2 draw.

Galway United

Injured: Marc Ludden, Aaron McDonagh, Killian Cantwell, Ger Hanley.

Doubtful: Ryan Connolly, Enda Curran, Colm Horgan.

Suspensions: None.

Longford Town

Injured: Ben Mohammed, Mark Rossiter, Jamie Mulhall (out with U19s).

Doubtful: None

Suspensions: None