Former Mayo footballer Lee Keegan believes that Mayo has the tools to take down Dublin this evening in their GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final clash.
Dublin and Mayo have met each other eight times since 2016. Dublin has won seven contest and six All-Irelands during that period. Three of those wins were against Mayo.
However, Mayo did beat Dublin 0-17 to 0-14 in the 2021 All-Ireland semi-final as they reached another final. They also lost that final to Tyrone.
Dublin's dominance in Gaelic football has started to wane since winning six-in-a-row, and as a result, the likes of Mayo have grown increasingly more confident of downing Dublin once again.
Keegan, who played in Mayo's heartbreaking losses to Dublin, believes that Mayo can upset Dessie Farrell's team when they face each other later this evening.
"Defensively, Dublin is there for the taking if they (Mayo) want," said Keegan at an event this week. "But how much risk are Mayo willing to take when you have the likes of Con O'Callaghan, Ciaran Kilkenny? Bugler has been playing brilliant football. Do you just go all out and go for it or do you go with the structured stuff?
CONFIRMED!!!!
Our Senior footballers will face Dublin in Croke Park on Sunday at 4pm. 🟢🔴 pic.twitter.com/hzBwjbsidm— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) June 26, 2023
"I think those are the challenges which will be posing Kevin (McStay) a lot of problems this week. Not problems, more headaches. Can they get around that and can they break down Dublin enough?
"I think they're going to get chances, and they're going to need to take them, but I just allude to that point, can they score enough? And we haven't seen that in the last three games."
Despite being an out-and-out Mayo man and admitting he believes that Mayo can win, Dublin's unpredictability is still a reason for concern for Keegan.
"I just don’t know where Dublin is at," Keegan added. "It’s so hard to get a reading on them. For me, I think they’re a team that looks a bit bored sometimes, and this is the game that they want and need to get them up and running.
"I do think the sight of a Mayo game is the ideal scenario for them, and we’ll know come half five on Sunday where they’re at.
"For me, at the moment, if [Dublin] play to their capabilities, I still think they might just have enough, just about."
Dublin's game against Mayo kicks off at 4p.m.
