With most of the high-profile European leagues finished for the summer, the Irish Premier League is just past the halfway mark. With a range of 19-21 games played by the teams, plenty of ground can still be made up by the teams with games in hand. Dundalk are in 2^nd place but league leaders, Cork have two games in hand over them so will extend their eight-point lead. Bohemians are in 7^th but they have games in hand on a few of the teams in higher positions.

STATS

• Bohemians are in decent form with three wins in their last five games, they have gained on the teams above them after some lacklustre performances prior to that run. They improved their form on the back of a loss 2-1 to Limerick and this showed in their last game as they comfortably eased past Sligo, who sit one place below them, with a 2-0 win.
• Dundalk have been brilliant in recent weeks and with four wins out of their last five games, they are slowly catching their title rivals. They will be looking to add to their four consecutive wins against Bohemians. They picked up a vital 3-0 victory over Bray in their last match which opened the gap to ten points above the 3^rd placed side.
• Dinny Corcoran has been in good form since the beginning of the season and he is Bohemians’ top league goal scorer so far. He’ll hope to add to his ten goals in this one.
• Only two players have scored more goals then Dundalk forward, David McMillan and with 12 goals, he is the leading scorer in the league for his side this season.

HEAD TO HEAD

Bohemians have failed to beat Dundalk in their last five attempts and with just one win in the 10 meetings prior to that, it is a fixture that is massively dominated by Dundalk. The earlier meeting back in April ended 2-0 to Dundalk.

BOHEMIANS NEWS

It is important that Bohemians pick up a win in this fixture so that they can begin to climb up the table and retake a place higher up in the league. A win can see them go 5^th and with games in hand over the few teams above, they can progress even further. Without any injuries or suspensions in their side for the upcoming game, they have an increased chance of beating the higher placed team.

Latest matches: Bohemians Dublin FC

23.06.2017	Prem	Bohemians Dublin FC	Sligo Rovers FC	2:0	W
16.06.2017	Prem	Saint Patrick's Athletic FC	Bohemians Dublin FC	1:3	W
02.06.2017	Prem	Bohemians Dublin FC	Drogheda United FC	0:0	D
26.05.2017	Prem	Galway United FC	Bohemians Dublin FC	1:2	W
23.05.2017	Prem	Bohemians Dublin FC	Limerick FC	1:2	L

DUNDALK NEWS

Dundalk are already 12 points adrift of Cork at the top of the league table and they have played two more games than the league leaders. With those two games, it could be an 18-point gap and Dundalk need to make sure that the gap doesn’t increase even further. Like their opponents, they are a side without any absences (except Shane Grimes who has been out for months) and they should take full advantage of that.

Latest matches: Dundalk FC

30.06.2017	Prem	Bray Wanderers AFC	Dundalk FC	0:3	W
26.06.2017	Prem	Dundalk FC	Galway United FC	2:0	W
23.06.2017	Prem	Dundalk FC	Finn Harps FC	4:0	W
16.06.2017	Prem	Drogheda United FC	Dundalk FC	0:6	W
02.06.2017	Prem	Dundalk FC	Cork City FC	0:3	L

SUMMARY

It has all the makings to be a very close match but with their better squad and better form, it is certainly Dundalk’s match to lose but Bohemians will put up a good fight. They will have their home fans behind them and the knowledge that they can go higher in the table with a win. It could go either way but a score draw is the most likely outcome.