Galway United’s first home game of the 2025 Premier Division season sees them face off against Stephen Kenny’s St Patrick’s Athletic.
Both sides had to settle for just a point in the opening match week of the season, Galway came from behind against newly promoted Cork City, that game finished 2-2, whilst St Pats faced FAI Cup winners Drogheda United, which ended as a scoreless draw.
Team news
Galway United announced on Tuesday a late signing in the transfer window, brining in Bohemians defender Cian Byrne on loan until the end of June. Unsurprisingly there is no injury news this early into the season.
The same can’t be said for St Pats with Kian Leavy set to be sidelined for two months with injured ankle ligaments, a big loss for pats with Stephen Kenny saying “Up until the injury, Kian was our most impressive player in pre-season training. He scored highest in all of the fitness tests and metrics.”
Key Statistics
In 2024, these sides faced each other four times, with St Patrick’s Athletic winning three and one of the encounters ending in a draw. The last time Galway beat St Pats in a competitive game was in August of 2017 in the FAI Cup.
Galway’s home record last season was very solid, picking up points in 78% of their matches at Eamon Deacy Park but St Pats also had a decent record away from home, picking up points 66% of the time.
Betting odds
The bookies believe the tie will be a close one with St pats being the marginal betting favourites at 6/4 with Galway sat at 7/4 and a draw at 2/1
When and where to watch
The game will be broadcasted live on Virgin Media two in Ireland with kick-off at 7:45pm on Friday. Outside of Ireland the game is available on LOITV.