Please, try again later
It’s all been very easy for Dundalk, who’re currently top of the table, no less than eight points clear of the nearest pursuers. Having won each of their last eight (all competitions), Monday’s hosts will fancy themselves to gather another three points, especially as they’re up against a lowly Waterford side.
There’s still a long way to go, but as things stand, it looks as though Dundalk have already confirmed themselves as champions, such has been the level of dominance from Vinny Perth’s men.
Overall, Dundalk have been excellent, though they’ve been particularly impressive on home soil, winning nine, drawing two and losing none of their 11 matches at Oriel Park. Such form is hard to knock, as is the fact that they’ve scored 23 goals and conceded just six. Monday’s hosts have also kept a clean sheet in 55% of their games in front of a home crowd this season, which tells us that they’ve been anything but easy to get at.
Waterford have struggled to get going on their travels. Monday’s visitors come into this fixture as the not-so-proud owners of the eighth-worst away record in the division. Such a record stems from winning just two out of nine on the road, while losing five of the other seven certainly hasn’t helped.
From an attacking point of view, Waterford have often got involved, scoring 11 in nine away games, but they’ve let themselves down at the back far too much, shipping an average of 1.45. There a several teams with worse defensive records, though 16 goals conceded in 11 matches is nowhere near good enough if you’re not an overly powerful scoring side, which quite frankly, Waterford are not.
However, while Waterford have not covered themselves in glory on the road of late, they’ve not often been battered, so they may fancy themselves to keep things respectable at Oriel Park on Monday evening.
In the betting, ‘Dundalk to Win & Under 3.5 Goals’ looks a solid option. For all the hosts have more than enough quality to see off Waterford on Monday night, some of their recent efforts suggest that they can do so without running riot. Dundalk have scored more than three goals in just one of their last nine at Oriel Park. Add in the fact that the visitors have only conceded five in their last five on the road and backing the league leaders to win in low-scoring fashion makes plenty of sense.