UCD travel to the Carlisle to face Bray Wanderers, with both sides looking to establish themselves as title contenders.
Bray Wanderers captured their first home victory of the season last week against Athlone, thanks to Tyreik Sammy and Alain Kizenga, who registered their first league goals for the club in a comeback win. Bray’s only loss so far this season came away at Turner’s Cross against Cork. Paul Heffernan’s side will look to win back-to-back home games before travelling to Cobh.
UCD failed to pick up 3 points on their trip to Longford in an evenly contested affair last week. At home, UCD has been dominant with two wins in two against Kerry and Treaty. William O’Connor’s side will look to pick up their first away win of the season and make a statement on their title aspirations.
Key Information
Kick-off: 7:45, Friday, March 13th
Where to Watch: LOITV
Betting Odds: Bray @11/10, Draw @23/10, UCD @2/1
Team News
Bray and UCD have no injuries to report, with both sides having full squads available for selection on Friday.
Key Statistics
Bray has had a decent average ball retention so far this season, at 52%. They have kept one clean sheet so far this season, away to Treaty United. On average, Bray wins 3.3 corners a game. They average 29.3 long balls a game with a 44.8% success rate. Bray averages 12.8 fouls a game while averaging 2.8 yellow cards a game.
UCD have dominated possession so far this season, averaging 62% possession across their opening fixtures. UCD have kept two clean sheets so far this season, against Treaty United and Longford Town. They average only 5.5 fouls per game with 2 yellow cards per game. They have registered a red card this season, through Adam Wells, in their opening fixture.
Players to Watch
For Bray, Tyreik Sammy has been a bright spark for Bray on the wing, and after registering his first league goal for the club last week, I see no reason why the 19-year-old won’t look to continue his good form and try to get himself another goal on Friday.
For UCD, Ciaran Behan is the obvious choice. The 24-year-old has registered 4 goal involvements in 4 appearances, including a brace against Treaty United. Ciaran registered two key passes and an expected assists (xA) of 0.79 against Longford Town last week despite his side coming away goal-less. I expect Ciaran to be gunning to continue creating goals by scoring or assisting on Friday.
Previous Meetings
Bray 3-2 UCD – 28/10/25
UCD 0-1 Bray – 24/10/25
UCD 3-2 Bray – 29/08/25
Bray 1-3 UCD – 23/06/25