Five talking points as Armagh take on Kerry in the All-Ireland Quarter-final this Sunday

Reigning All-Ireland champions Armagh take on Kerry this Sunday in the last eight of the competition, as they go in search of retaining their Sam Maguire title.

The same two teams met in an epic showdown in the semi-finals last year, where Armagh came from five points down to eventually topple Kerry in extra-time.

Ahead of the big clash – which takes place on Sunday at 4pm in Croke Park, we’ve analysed five key talking points which could determine who comes out on top.​

1 – Armagh the more road tested team

Armagh’s run in the Championship this year has seen them face one juggernaut after another. Since defeating Antrim in the Ulster SFC Quarter-final, they have taken on five Division 1 teams in a row: Tyrone, Donegal, Derry, Dublin and Galway, with this weekend’s clash against Kerry their sixth straight game against top-tier opposition.

On the other hand, this will remarkably be Kerry’s first Championship match against a Division 1 team, as they have faced only Division 2 and 3 teams so far, namely: Cork (twice), Clare, Roscommon, Meath and Cavan.

Armagh are clearly the more road tested team, but that begs the question: which is better? Does it suit Armagh that they have been involved in tough clash after tough clash because their match sharpness should be sky-high, or will the impact of playing in these tough matches every two weeks take its toll on the players physically and mentally?

Kerry will have taken confidence from some comfortable wins throughout the year, but in their most difficult test of the campaign so far they were beaten by nine points by Meath.

Can Kerry raise their performance levels ahead of facing Division 1 opposition for the first time this summer?

2 – Favourites tag

It’s close, but Armagh are slight favourites with the bookmakers to win this game, and the general expectation within the county is that they should come out on top.

That presents manager Kieran McGeeney with a different set of problems compared to when the same two teams met a year ago.

Armagh came into that game as slight underdogs and were able to catch Kerry out. But as reigning All-Ireland champions, Armagh are now the hunted and not the hunters anymore. McGeeney will have to keep his players’ feet on the ground and block out the external noise in order to avoid complacency.

3 – Can anyone stop David Clifford?

Whilst most punters tip Armagh to win, they would also say that the best player on the pitch will be wearing green and gold this weekend: David Clifford.

The 2022 and 2023 Footballer of the Year has been on a rampage in recent weeks, hitting 7-37 so far in the Championship, including 3-7 against Cavan last week.

So, who will Armagh task with picking him up?

Barry McCambridge did a good job on Clifford when the two sides met last year, holding the Fossa man to just one point from play. However, so far this campaign, Paddy Burns seems to be Armagh’s main man marker, having performed very well in marking Darragh Canavan, Oisin Gallen (having switched with McCambridge when Gallen was performing well) and Shane McGuigan.

Kerry are far from a ‘one man team’ but with Paudie Clifford and Sean O’Shea struggling for fitness in recent weeks, and the Kingdom’s Mike Breen, Paul Geaney, Tony Brosnan and Diarmuid O’Connor potentially all out injured, the pressure falls on David Clifford’s shoulders this weekend.

4 – Armagh pose problems all over the field

On the flipside, Armagh are getting scores from all over the field. They have had at least 10 different scorers in each one of their six Championship matches to date, including a staggering 14 different scorers against Galway.

Kerry manager Jack O’Connor has a tough assignment this week in sorting out who picks up who, as Armagh have a number of options that can hurt teams.

How do you stop Oisin Conaty? How do you curtail Rory Grugan’s influence? Who can match Andrew Murnin in the air? Who’s best suited to marking Conor Turbitt? How do you prevent Rian and Oisin O’Neill from scoring two pointers?

Throw on top of that Armagh’s superb wing players like Ross McQuillan, Jarly Og Burns and Darragh McMullen who make direct, impactful runs from deep, and their Swiss Army Knife goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty who kicked 0-3 from play and 0-4 from dead balls against Galway last week.

Kerry have a lot of fires to put out.

5 – Armagh’s improved record at Croke Park

Last year en route to winning the Sam Maguire, Armagh got over two key stumbling blocks: their poor record at Croke Park and their poor record in All-Ireland quarter-finals.

Armagh had lost in their previous six quarter-final appearances (2006, 2008, 2014, 2017, 2022 and 2023) before beating Roscommon last year.

That game has started a chain reaction which saw them go on to defeat Kerry, Galway and Dublin in their last three Championship games at Croke Park.

Can they make it five wins on the spin at Headquarters this Sunday?