Kerry v Mayo Prediction, Preview & Odds - Allianz League

In this post, we bring you a Kerry v Mayo prediction plus a breakdown of the odds and everything else you need to know for this game.

How To Watch Kerry v Mayo

When Is Kerry v Mayo?

The game is scheduled to start at 7.30 pm on Saturday, February 17th.

TV Channel

You can watch the game on RTÉ2 with pre-match coverage from 7.20 pm.

Live Stream

In Ireland you can stream Kerry v Mayo on RTÉ Player.

Where is Kerry v Mayo Being Played?

Kerry v Mayo will take place in Austin Stack Park in Tralee, Co. Kerry as Kerry are the designated home team for this match.

Kerry v Mayo Odds

Kerry are strong favourites 1/4 favourites for this game per the latest gaelic football odds at BoyleSports.

Mayo, despite 2 wins from 2 games in this league campaign, are the 4/1 outsiders to win this game. The draw is priced up at 10/1.

Handicap Betting

Kerry: -4 @ 5/6

Mayo: +4 @ 11/10

Handicap Draw: -4 @ 17/2

Click Below For Our LIVE Kerry v Mayo Odds

Team News

Kerry Team News

https://twitter.com/Kerry_Offi...

The big news for Kerry is the return of the Cliffords to the starting lineup for this game having come off the bench in the last round win over Monaghan.

Sean O’Shea retains his place in the inside forward line having played his football from centre-forward in previous campaigns. The move to 14 has been a success so far with 7 points last time out, including 5 of those coming from open play.

Mayo Team News

https://twitter.com/MayoGAA/st...

Fergal Boland has been one of the big stories out of Mayo in the opening 2 rounds of this National League. The forward wasn’t in the panel last year having been a constant presence in previous years. Mayo Manager Kevin McStay recalled Boland to play and start in this league campaign and it has paid dividends as he has been one of the team’s best players.

Veteran Diarmuid O’Connor returns to the squad having not featured in the opening 2 rounds and will take his place in midfield where he has featured for his county in the last couple of years.

Michael Plunkett will start at 6 and is a similar case to Fergal Boland in that he is a young player that had success in the Mayo jersey previously and is returning to the setup this season after a spell in the wilderness.

Kerry v Mayo Preview

Kerry’s Form

Kerry started off this year’s league campaign with a big match against Derry and their new manager Mickey Harte. Despite scoring 2 goals and conceding 0, Kerry still managed to end up on the losing side in what was a disappointing performance against a good Derry team.

The Kingdom bounced back in some fashion the next week though as they travelled to Clones to take on a Monaghan side high in confidence after beating the Dubs in Croke Park the previous week. The Farneymen were soon brought back down to earth by Kerry as they blitzed them for 3-15 as they cruised to a 9-point win.

The Kingdom came into this year’s National League after finishing runner-up in last year’s All-Ireland Championship. They lost last season’s All-Ireland Final to Dublin on a scoreline of 1-15 to 1-13. Even though they made it to the Final, it is fair to say that this team took a step back from the dizzying heights they reached in 2022 when they swept aside all in front of them.

Mayo’s Form

Mayo are the table toppers at this early stage in Division 1 of the National League. They laid down a marker in the 1st round against Galway when they left Salthill with an 8-point victory with goals coming from Eoghan McLaughlin and Cillian O’Connor that day.

Next up was Dublin in MacHale Park, who would have been targeting that game after their opening round home loss to Monaghan. In what was a tightly contested game, McStay’s side might feel a little fortunate to have pulled out a 1-12 to 0-14 win, especially considering that the goal came from Stephen Coen punching home from an effort at a point that dropped short.

2023 was a year of highs and lows for this Mayo team. They were very impressive in the league with a young side featuring plenty of new names. They went on to win that National League, beating old rivals Galway in the final which made for a great start to life under new manager Kevin McStay.

The Championship was a mixed bag however. In Connacht they fell to Roscommon, although they could feel unlucky given that this game was played the week after their National League Final success and in poor weather conditions. They bounced back with an incredible performance against Kerry in the opening game of the All-Ireland Groups to win by 5 points down in Killarney.

The Westerners would then disappoint in their remaining Championship games as they were lacklustre in a 1-point win against Louth, loss to Cork and quarter-final loss to a Dublin team that blitzed them in the 2nd half.

Kerry v Mayo Weather Forecast

Rain earlier in the day is expected to clear up by throw-in when there is a less than 5% chance of rainfall. Wind should not be a massive factor either with wind speed between 3-5 Km/h expected.

Kerry v Mayo Head-To-Head

Kerry 0-17 Mayo 1-19 | 2023 All-Ireland Groups

Mayo 2-14 Kerry 1-10 | 2023 National League Division 1

Kerry 1-18 Mayo 0-13 | 2022 All-Ireland Quarter-Final

Kerry 3-19 Mayo 0-13 | 2022 National League Division 1 Final

Kerry 1-12 Mayo 0-14 | 2022 National League Division 1

Trends

These two teams are well acquainted with each other having played 5 times in the last 2 years.

Kerry have had the better of those fixtures with 3 wins from 5. However, Mayo will feel quietly confident heading down to Kerry this Saturday as they beat The Kingdom in both encounters in 2023, first in the league and then in the Championship.

That loss for Kerry against Mayo in the All-Ireland Groups was actually they’re first Championship home loss since 1995 so they will feel they have a point to prove this Saturday evening in front of a national TV audience.

Key Players To Watch

David Clifford

This is an obvious one. He’s the best player in gaelic football today and perhaps the best we’ve ever seen in terms of ability. Last time out against Monaghan the 25-year-old had only been sprung from the bench before he raised the green flag. Clifford has it all and when the Fossa man is on-form he is unmarkable as we’ve seen so often in the past.

Speaking of marking, it will be interesting to see who Mayo opt to mark him with in this game. David McBrien was a revelation at full-back for Mayo last year and is probably this team’s best man marker so I would expect that he gets the Clifford assignment in what would be a fascinating tussle.

Jordan Flynn

Flynn has had a relatively quiet start to this league campaign with just 2 points to his name. The Crossmolina man was exceptional last year and probably Mayo’s best player throughout their league and Championship campaigns.

If Mayo are to beat The Kingdom as 4/1 outsiders this Saturday evening then they will likely need Flynn to return to the level we saw from him in 2023.

Kerry v Mayo Prediction & Best Bet

Prediction: Kerry 2-14 Mayo 1-13

I’m picking Kerry to win this game by 4 points at home.

Kerry were impressive last time out against Monaghan when they put up a total of 3-15. Mayo on the other hand were probably a little lucky to beat Dublin by the minimum with the help of a fortuitous goal.

Sean O’Shea’s move to the inside forward line has proven very successful for The Kingdom at this early stage. I think he and David Clifford inside will be hard to deal with for this Mayo full-back line.

I feel our oddsmakers have this one about right with the handicap at 4 points so the -4 handicap draw (Kerry to win by exactly 4 points) is tempting at odds of 17/2.

Best Bet: BTTS a goal & Kerry win @ 5/2

If you enjoyed this post then you should also check out our Dublin v Roscommon preview for the other televised game this Saturday evening and our Tyrone v Galway preview for Sunday afternoon's televised match.

Click Below For Our LIVE Kerry v Mayo Odds

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