It's an evenly-balanced affair in Ulster, which is likely to be an intriguing battle between Armagh and Derry. Armagh have had a long campaign over the last couple of seasons, and Crossmaglen have also been on the move for a while now, so certain players may be a bit tired. I felt Kieran McGeeney looked a tired player in their semi-final, and I wonder whether Armagh will have the hunger of last year.

Still, there are a very physical side with a good sprinkling of forwards. Derry, of course, seem to be on a roll, but I wonder if they are back to their best. They won the league in style, and were probably a bit complacent the first day against Antrim; but they do seem hungry now to make this a big year.

Derry also seem to have discovered some impressive forwards. Derek Dougan and Enda Muldoon are playing some exceptional football, and obviously Anthony Tohill has been a big factor for them.

For Armagh, Diarmuid Marsden will be a major loss, especially when you think of his contribution in the Ulster final last year when he worked so well with Oisin McConville. If Tohill has shaken off this hip injury, I expect things might swing Derry's way. They also have the greater strength in depth on the sideline, although there may be some question marks over their defence: they've already conceded five goals.

It will be something of a clash of styles as well, with Derry sending the long ball early into the forwards and Armagh focusing on the slower build-up through their strong and physical presence. In the end, however, I expect that Armagh's experience will be overcome by a Derry team that right now has the greater momentum.

It may be the summer of surprises, but I can't quite see how Kerry will fail to win back the Munster title. There are a whole host of reasons why they are expected to beat Clare, although they are smart enough not to take them for granted.

Judging on the two semi-finals, the Kerry-Cork game was by far the higher quality. The pace was quicker and the quality of passing and scoring was far superior. To be fair to Clare, they played as well as was expected against Tipperary. They did their job. But there was certainly a big gulf in the quality of scoring between the two semi-finals.

Clare do have the benefit of a couple of things coming into this. Their win over Kerry in 1992 will help, even though there are only a couple of players left from that team. They won't be as overawed by Kerry as they had been in the past, and it won't seem as big a mountain as it did before 1992.

However, this team is at a different stage of maturity than the 1992 team. Tommy Curtin has done a good job in bringing in new players, but they're still a little young. This challenge might have come a bit early for them.

Ironically, Kerry will be helped by the fact that Cork came back at them so strongly in the second half. It was a psychological test that they passed, and it will keep them on their toes coming into this game.

I wasn't surprised Paidi O Se named the same team. He's probably giving the players a chance, and even though he made a few substitutions the first day, none of the team performed particularly badly. Donal Daly had a very good first half before he was taken off, and Killian Burns was also under a bit of pressure. But he's a quality player and has won an All-Ireland with Kerry and I don't think they'll be too worried about him.

Again O Se's left Maurice Fitzgerald on the bench, but that's another reason why I'd be so comfortable in tipping Kerry to win. They have the strength in depth to bring on a player like Fitzgerald, who I feel played a crucial role at midfield against Cork.

But because it's Clare, and because Kerry were rattled by Cork in the second half, I feel that the stronger frame of mind will clearly be with Kerry. They'll be raging hot favourites, which can be a hard burden to carry, but I think they have enough maturity to get through.

You only have to look at Kerry's forward line and the way they set out their stall against Cork to understand how hard it's going to be for Clare. They were quite exceptional, moving the ball so quickly that they had a point after something like 15 seconds.

Players like Dara O Cinneide epitomises the fact that Kerry are back in the big time, because he delivered on his potential the last day. The midfield is going to be key as well, because Dara O Se and Daly have a tremendous capacity to win ball.

They will, however, have to contend with Donal O'Sullivan, who is a very underrated midfielder. He gets through an awful lot of work and is a very good fielder. Clare have also drafted in Joe Considine and it will be interesting to see how he fares, but I suppose Clare weren't fully happy with their midfield the last day. Certainly on their first half display against Cork, I expect Kerry to shade the amount of ball won around the middle.

Clare do have some capable forwards, although I'm not sure if their defence has been tested yet. If they do hold the Kerry forward line as it's constituted at the moment, then they'll definitely be worth talking about. But if Kerry dominate midfield and get the supply into the forwards, I can't see the Clare defence holding out for very long.

And Kerry won't be holding back either. With so many surprises and shocks in the modern game, no team can afford to step down a gear just because the opposition mightn't be as strong. If you do, it's very hard to change your pattern within the game. When the teams hit the field, Kerry will be anxious to stamp their authority on the game quite quickly and I can't see them letting it slip a whole lot either.

The Clare spirit is always something to contend with and it would be unwise for any team to take them for granted. But Kerry to win, definitely, although they won't want to be too far away from full throttle either.