Galway v Mayo Prediction, Preview & Odds - Connacht Final

In this post, we bring you a Galway v Mayo prediction plus all the odds as we preview the 2024 Connacht Football Championship Final.

It’s one of the most historic rivalries in the history of the GAA and these two old foes are set to lock horns again this Sunday afternoon with a Connacht Championship on the line.

Mayo have dominated this fixture in recent years but despite that, they are without a Connacht Championship since 2021.

Galway on the other hand will be looking to record their 3rd consecutive Connacht title, the last time they did that was all the way back in 1984. They’ll also be hoping to avenge the loss inflicted on them by Mayo last summer which sent them crashing out of the Championship.

How To Watch Galway v Mayo

When is Galway v Mayo?

Galway v Mayo will throw in at 4 pm on Sunday, May 5th.

TV Channel

Galway v Mayo will be broadcast live on RTÉ2.

Live Stream

In Ireland, you can stream Galway v Mayo on the RTÉ Player.

Outside the island of Ireland Galway v Mayo can be streamed on GAAGo with a subscription or by purchasing access to the game.

Where is Galway v Mayo Being Played?

This match will be played in Pearse Stadium in Salthill as Galway are the designated home team for this fixture.

Galway v Mayo Odds

Mayo, despite being the visitors, are the favourites for this Connacht Final at odds of 5/6.

Galway are 11/8 home underdogs while the draw after 70 minutes is 13/2.

To Lift The Trophy

Mayo are the 4/6 favourites to win the Connacht Championship this Sunday in Pearse Stadium.

Galway are marginal underdogs at 11/10 to lift the Nestor Cup.

Handicap Betting

Galway: +1 @ 10/11

Mayo: -1 @ 11/10

Handicap Draw: +1 @ 15/2

In the handicap betting, Mayo are 1-point favourites meaning that you can back Mayo to win this game by 2 points or more at 11/10 odds.

Galway v Mayo Preview

Team News

Galway Team News

Below you can see the Galway starting team and subs bench that has been announced for this game against Mayo.

Galway will be buoyed by the return of Damien Comer and John Maher to the forwards. Talented half-forward Matthew Tierney takes up a spot on the bench as he returns from an injury. The absence of Cillian McDaid from the 26-man matchday panel will be sorely felt as the Monivea Abbey star has been a leading force for his county over recent seasons.

Mayo Team News

Mayo will line out as follows for Saturday’s game:

Mayo manager Kevin McStay has made no changes to the team that beat Roscommon in the Connacht semi-final.

On the injury front, there is some positive news for Mayo as half-back Eoghan McLaughlin makes a return to the squad and is listed on the bench. The same is true for brothers Cillian and Diarmuid O’Connor who are also listed on the bench.

Other big names on the subs bench include defender Enda Hession, forward Conor Loftus, Castlebar’s Bob Tuohy and Ballina’s Pádraig O’Hora who will all likely play a big part in the closing minutes of Sunday’s game.

Referee

David Gough will be the man in charge of this Sunday’s Connacht Final.

Galway’s Form

Galway’s 2024 Results

Sligo 0-14 1-13 Galway | Connacht Semi-Final | Markievicz Park

London 0-09 5-21 Galway | Connacht Quarter-Final | McGovern Park

Kerry 0-15 1-10 Galway | National League Division 1 | Fitzgerald Stadium

Galway 0-14 0-22 Dublin | National League Division 1 | Pearse Stadium

Monaghan 0-14 3-12 Galway | National League Division 1 | St Tiernach’s Park

Galway 1-11 3-10 Derry | National League Division 1 | Pearse Stadium

Tyrone 0-12 1-10 Galway | National League Division 1 | Healy Park

Roscommon 0-09 0-09 Galway | National League Division 1 | Dr Hyde Park

Galway 0-10 2-12 Mayo | National League Division 1 | Pearse Stadium

Analysis

Galway have had a disappointing 2024 to date. There is plenty of bad luck involved in that too with this squad having dealt with more injuries than any of the other top teams in the country.

The Tribesmen booked their spot in this Connacht Final thanks to a 2-point win over Sligo. In truth, they were very fortunate to advance past Sligo after an injury-time goal saved their blushes in Markievicz Park.

It was an underwhelming league campaign for Pádraig Joyce’s men too with just 5 points registered from their 7 matches. It would prove enough to keep them up but it is hardly inspiring that they lost to Kerry on the final day needing a win to guarantee safety.

The lowlight of the league for Galway came against Sunday’s opposition Mayo when they opened their campaign at home with an 8-point loss to their neighbours. That loss continued their poor run of form against their old foes with just 2 wins for the Tribesmen in their last 10 encounters against Mayo. That recent history does not bode well for Galway’s chances in this Connacht Final.

It was also Mayo who dumped them out of the 2023 Championship as Pádraig Joyce’s side were unable to capitalise on home advantage in the preliminary quarter-final.

That early Championship exit, a disappointing league campaign and recent struggles against the old enemy Mayo makes this a massive game for Galway and manager Pádraig Joyce, even if a win may see them with a tougher All-Ireland group draw.

Mayo’s Form

Mayo’s 2024 Results

Roscommon 0-13 1-15 Mayo | Connacht Semi-Final | Dr Hyde Park

New York 2-06 2-21 Mayo | Connacht Quarter-Final | Gaelic Park

Monaghan 1-14 2-13 Mayo | National League Division 1 | St Tiernach’s Park

Mayo 2-13 3-15 Derry | National League Division 1 | MacHale Park

Mayo 0-15 0-09 Roscommon | National League Division 1 | MacHale Park

Tyrone 1-15 1-11 Mayo | National League Division 1 | Healy Park

Kerry 0-16 0-15 Mayo | National League Division 1 | Austin Stack Park

Mayo 1-12 0-14 Dublin | National League Division 1 | MacHale Park

Galway 0-10 2-12 Mayo | National League Division 1 | Pearse Stadium

Analysis

It has been an unspectacular yet solid 2024 for Mayo so far.

They earned their spot in this Connacht decider thanks to a comfortable victory against Roscommon at the semi-final stage. In the National League manager Kevin McStay didn’t do a whole pile of tinkering with the squad. The Ballina man more or less played the same 21 players week in and week out which could be a big advantage for this team in the early stages of this Championship. It certainly did them no harm in their 5-point win against Roscommon a couple of weeks ago in Dr Hyde Park. Whether that limited rotation could count against Mayo in the later stages of the summer remains to be seen.

Aidan O’Shea’s direct play for the only goal of the game against the Rossies was promising and will be something that Mayo fans will want to see more of in this game.

Their opening fixture of this Connacht Championship came against New York. Mayo took care of business in that game which is all you can do – beat who is in front of you.

This team’s recent record against Galway is something that should inspire confidence too. These teams have played 4 times since the beginning of 2023 and Mayo are unbeaten in those meetings, with 3 wins, including in a Championship knockout game in Pearse Stadium last summer, and 1 draw.

Galway v Mayo Head-To-Head

Galway 0-10 2-12 Mayo | 2024 National League Division 1 | Pearse Stadium

Galway 0-12 1-10 Mayo | 2023 All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Final | Pearse Stadium

Mayo 0-14 0-11 Galway | 2023 National League Division 1 Final | Croke Park

Mayo 1-11 2-08 Galway | 2023 National League Division 1 | MacHale Park

Mayo 0-16 1-14 Galway | 2022 Connacht Championship | MacHale Park

Mayo 2-14 2-08 Galway | 2021 Connacht Championship Final | Croke Park

Galway 0-13 0-14 Mayo | 2020 Connacht Championship Final | Pearse Stadium

Galway 0-17 3-23 Mayo | 2020 National League Division 1 | Pearse Stadium

Galway 1-13 2-13 Mayo | 2019 All-Ireland Qualifier | Gaelic Grounds

Mayo 0-12 1-11 Galway | 2019 National League Division 1 | MacHale Park

Mayo have dominated this fixture in recent years with 7 wins from the last 10 meetings between these two sides.

Galway have just 2 wins from those 10 fixtures with 1 game ending in a draw.

Galway v Mayo Prediction

Prediction: Galway 1-12 Mayo 2-11

I’m predicting Mayo will win a close game to secure a first Connacht title since 2021.

There are a lot of factors pointing to a Mayo win on Sunday. Mayo are coming into this game in better form after a solid league campaign and a comfortable win against Roscommon in the Connacht semi-final. Galway, in contrast, struggled in the league and were lucky in the end to avoid relegation. Since then they were very fortunate to beat Division 3 Sligo in the previous round of this competition with a late goal saving their blushes.

In addition to their superior form, Mayo have had Galway’s number in recent years with 7 wins in their last 10 matches against Galway while the Tribesmen only have 2 victories to their credit in those games, interestingly both of those wins came in MacHale Park.

With all that considered, I don’t think the talent gap between these teams is that big. These teams are also very familiar with each other which should make for this being a tighter affair than what recent form would suggest. So it’s Mayo to win a nailbiter in Salthill for me.

Best Bet: Mayo 1st Goal & Win @ 9/4

*Prices are subject to fluctuation.

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