League Preview: Drogheda United v Derry City

DROGHEDA UNITED

Drogheda United play their second last home game of the season against Derry City this Friday night at Weavers Park, safe in the knowledge that they are guaranteed to be in the Premier Division next season.

They are 12 points ahead of relegation threatened Cork City with four games left to play but also have a significantly better goal difference than the Leesiders, with a 19-goal difference between both sides.

Their recent form has been very strong, winning four of their last five games, with the single defeat being in the Louth derby against Dundalk last weekend.

They did take an early lead through a Kyle Robinson 26^th minute goal in that game, but were unable to retain the lead and eventually conceded three goals to their neighbours to leave it 3-1 to Dundalk at the final whistle

DERRY CITY

The Foylesiders have been on the coat tails of current league leaders Shamrock Rovers in the latter part of season but with a five-point deficit between them they will need Rovers to falter if they are to retain any hope of annexing the title this season.

69 points is the maximum that Derry can accumulate in their remaining four games and with Rovers currently on 62 points and also with four games to play, the odds are very much stacked against Ruadhri Higgins’s side overtaking Rovers.

They will at a minimum need to secure European football for next season, and so have to pick up enough points to keep the likes of St Patricks Athletic, Bohemians and Shelbourne at bay as the season draws to a close.

They have hit a rich vein of form in front of goals recently, hitting the net 15 times in their last 5 league games.

The two blots on their copybook however have been the failure to score at all away to Sligo Rovers  two weeks ago ,and the two red cards they picked up,  Ronan Boyce’s in that loss to Rovers and Shane McEleney’s dismissal against  Shamrock Rovers .

Referee: Kevin O’ Sullivan

MATCH STATS

These two sides have been very evenly matched over the last eight games in the past two seasons.

Derry have won three, Drogheda have won twice and there have been three 1-1 draws between the sides.

The most recent game at the Brandywell resulted in a 3-0 win for the home side, with Jordan McEneff, Jamie McGonigle and Michael Duffy on the scoresheet.

PREDICTION

Drogheda Utd   1  - 2 Derry City