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24th August 2014
09:42am BST

Will Mayo be able to limit the influence of James O'Donoghue?
O’Donoghue is the best forward in the country at the minute and claims that he will develop to be as good as or better than the Gooch are realistic claims. The Legion clubman destroyed an experienced Cork full back line in the Munster Final and caused havoc in a naïve Galway defence last time out. Mayo will have to learn from the two approaches trialled by the sides so far. Mayo have a lot more presence of mind than Galway and will know that you simply can’t leave this man one-on-one with defenders in front of goal. They will need some kind of sweeper system in place if they want to stifle his influence on the game. Higgins is undeniably a clever operator and a great man marker, but if he is abandoned by his teammates on Sunday, he will endure a torrid afternoon against the strength and pace of the Kerry man.
Rob Hennelly has been in great form for Mayo so far this season.
Brian Kelly is in his first season starting for the senior panel after a number of years playing second fiddle. The Legion clubman comes from a soccer background which makes him a brilliant shot-stopper but he has really struggled with his kick outs so far this season, most notably against Galway. It is possible that Mayo may push up on the Kerry kick outs to increase the pressure on Kelly but to do this, the Connacht side must risk leaving themselves more open at the back, something they will loath to do with the aforementioned O'Donoghue lurking in attack.
How big of a loss will Bryan Sheehan be for the Kingdom on Sunday?
Kerry are also strong in that area with Anthony Maher having a strong game against Cork and heavily influencing the Galway game. Bryan Sheehan is undoubtedly a huge loss to the side, he offers an attacking option and some balance to the team because Maher prefers to sit back and shield the half-back line to some extent. This could limit Kerry’s attacking options. David Moran is named to start in midfield for the Kingdom but don’t be surprised to see Johnny Buckley having to drop back and do an extra shift around midfield to ensure that Mayo don’t dominate that area with the O’Shea brothers and Vaughan. On paper it seems like Mayo have the edge in that area with Seamus O’Shea an All-Star candidate so far this year, but it should be a colossal struggle between two of the best sides in the country and it could go either way. All roads lead to Croke Park on Sunday, we predict a close game and whoever edges it on the three areas we've highlighted above should win the game. Here's hoping for a cracker.Explore more on these topics:

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