All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers - Match Previews

Limerick v Louth: Limerick's footballers are very much in the shadows on the weekend of the Munster hurling final, although they can reflect on the fact they've reached as many provincial deciders themselves this decade.

This evening will be an interesting match between a home side who have gamely battled their shortcomings at the top level of the National League before shipping a comprehensive defeat in the championship against a good Cork team and the visitors, who have fallen disappointingly short of expectation in all but the final match against Wicklow.

In the meantime Louth manager Eamonn McEneaney has had to cope with an exodus of players to the US and Louth certainly don't have the sort of momentum they had when the teams met in last year's league Division Two semi-final, won by the Leinster county.

Limerick will need to improve on their championship outing but they are capable of doing so.

Mayo v Cavan: John O'Mahony denies that the changes he has made since the Galway defeat are that radical and in one sense he's right, with only the two teenagers, David Kilcullen and Pierce Hanley, making championship debuts. But the entire spine of the team has been rebuilt with the two mentioned named at centre back and centre forward respectively.

There are likely to be a few further adjustments, with Barry Moran likely to drop back from the inside line to supplement centrefield and allow David Heaney and David Brady to get forward.

Cavan are another county to have lost players to transatlantic traffic but not, in their case, front-rank panel members. There's not much on a form-line to separate Cavan from Ulster finalists Monaghan and they have never been easy opponents in the qualifiers.

At present the problem is more about form and injury and although Mayo are obviously now looking to the future, they can continue to live in the present for a while longer.

Down v Meath: When first drawn this looked like a satisfactory draw for Colm Coyle's team, combining a good challenge with the prospects of winning. Since then the fallout from the Meath attack has dimmed the horizon.

Joe Sheridan's opt-out didn't come when he was at the top of his game and management had little choice in Graham Geraghty's removal but the departures are unsettling. The question for the visitors has to be to what extent the Dublin displays were high-octane reactions to a specific motivation.

For Down, the championship has been unfulfilled, two useful run-outs against Cavan set them up for what should have been a win against Monaghan but wasn't.

Uncertainties in defence and at centrefield contrast with Meath's relative solidity in those areas. Benny Coulter hasn't been in great scoring form and Down need a game plan that gets him on the ball in danger areas. Daniel Hughes's hand injury looks certain to rule him out. Not much in it but Meath look a better bet.

Roscommon v Kildare: Like Limerick, Roscommon are overshadowed by tomorrow's provincial final - in their case the county's All-Ireland minors attempting a first consecutive pair of Connacht titles.

It's been a disappointing season for the seniors after promotion in the National League. From the defeat to Meath in the Division Two final to the championship exit against Sligo morale has slipped.

Kildare's season has followed a similar track. They did well to reach the league semi-final but were lacklustre against Meath and continue to be haunted by injury - and Dermot Earley is still out.

Neither side have much of a record in the qualifiers and coincidentally, the riveting match between the counties four years ago is Roscommon's last win on the outside track.

Were the visitors at full strength, this would be a straightforward call but they're not. Home win.

Westmeath v Longford: The match-up that was laughingly conjured up nearly two months ago after Longford had launched a great comeback against the neighbours has emerged in deadly seriousness - and this time away from home.

No team have had longer to prepare for the qualifiers than Tomás Ó Flatharta's and it's unlikely they would squander a winning position as they did last May.

But equally, Longford are hardly going to be as defensively chaotic and since then they have stayed well with Laois before losing out after a controversially disallowed goal.

Given the quality of forwards on both sides the supply of ball will be crucial and Longford have been unexpectedly creative at centrefield and Westmeath are missing David O'Shaughnessy, so Luke Dempsey's team get the vote to repeat their championship win.

Leitrim v Donegal: Very disappointed championship teams for different reasons: Leitrim came tantalisingly close to causing a sensation against Galway, whereas Donegal's high hopes for the season were turned into a bonfire by Tyrone.

Leitrim have yet to win a qualifier match in six seasons of trying despite some famous jousts with Roscommon and Meath.

That record might act as a depressant despite again getting a big neighbouring team into their redeveloped county ground.

But this match is mostly about how Donegal react to the Tyrone disaster.

Leitrim will be able to pile on the pressure if the visitors aren't up for it but their scoring limitations still make a win for the National League winners the more likely option.

Fermanagh v Wexford: The only pairing that's a repeat of last year when it was clouded by the controversy of Matty Forde's impending suspension.

Wexford have had a reasonable championship to date, although the failure to close out the Leinster semi-final against Laois was a disappointment, the third successive year they've fallen at the penultimate hurdle in Leinster.

Experienced defender David Murphy is suspended but hopes are high that Philip Wallace will be available.

Forde's absence last year was felt, particularly in relation to free-taking duties.

Paul Bealin's side suffered last week after Murphy's dismissal but up until then had looked well capable of winning given the form of the forwards.

Fermanagh's stock rose after the Tyrone team that struggled to beat them destroyed Donegal.

Fermanagh's comparative lack of match practice might come against them but they should still pull through.

Armagh v Derry: The consensus reaction to this was it was the last draw Derry wanted but equally, it's probably one of the last Armagh would have hoped for.

Although Derry are perceived as in crisis they have still beaten their opponents in the league this year and have the capacity to slug it out in a tight and physical match, as they did last year with Tyrone.

Armagh's problem is that in a week or two they should have Brian Mallon and Ronan Clarke back in harness, which will revolutionise their potency in attack. If things go wrong tomorrow that improvement will have to wait until next year.

Derry's defeat by Monaghan was deeply dispiriting. Even gifted a goal against the run of play with 10 minutes to go, Derry hadn't the conviction to drive on and win. Highly rated forwards Paddy Bradley and Enda Muldoon struggled and a centrefield that had been expected to dominate was actually beaten.

Consistency is Armagh's strongest card against opponents whose summer form has been one of constant disappointment .