Waterford vs Shelbourne: Irish Championship match forecast
Waterford and Shelbourne will play in the second round of the Irish Championship. The guests are the current national champion and plan to retain the championship title. The owners have much more modest tasks, they plan to avoid the struggle for survival. Which of the competitors will be able to score tournament points on February 21? The answer is in our forecast.

Command Analysis

Waterford FC

Current form
Last season, Waterford finished seventh out of ten in the Irish League, avoiding a grueling struggle for survival. The club managed to beat Drogda United, which took the penultimate place, by 11 points. The current season has also started quite optimistically for the hosts. In the first round, Keith Long's team managed to score an away victory over Sligo Rovers (3:2). Thanks to three goals scored, the team was in second place in the standings, only today's opponent, Shelbourne, is higher. In the face-to-face match, the team from Waterford will try to impose the fight on the reigning champion.
Disqualifications and injuries
Trey Coyle, James Olajinka and Matthew Smith will miss the match due to injuries. Samuel Glenfield and Rowan McDonald are questionable.
Interesting betting trends
- The team has won only one of the last seven Irish League matches.
- The club has suffered four defeats in six recent matches.
Approximate composition: McMullan - Boyle, Buckboard, Radkowski, Burke, Horton- Lonergan, McCormack, McDonald -Amond, Noonan

Shelbourne

Current form
Shelbourne managed to take the championship title in 2024, although the competition was serious. Until the last round, it was unclear who would get the first place, but the guests still managed to bypass Shamrock Rovers. Rovers missed out on the championship for the first time in five years, and now Shelbourne intends to leave their main competitor out of business again. The start of the tournament turned out to be successful for Damien Duff's team - Derry City were confidently beaten in the first round, and before that, the reigning champion managed to win the Super Cup by defeating Drogheda United with a score of 2:0.
Disqualifications and injuries
Daniel Kelly and Tyreke Wilson will miss the upcoming match due to injuries.
Interesting betting trends
- The team has not lost five matches in a row.
- The club has won only one of the last seven away matches.
Approximate composition: Kearns - Ledwidge, Gannon, Barrett, Bone - Coyle, Caffrey, McEnroe -Wood, Boyd, Odubeko
Trends
The bet is an accurate score of 1:3
The guests won the last victory with such a score
20.00Bet Both will score
Stavka has played in the last six matches of the hosts
2.10The bid is the number 1 in the final bill
This pattern has worked in 8 of the last 10 matches of the hosts.
1.62Tip and bets
The visitors beat today's opponent in the last four face-to-face matches, and they haven't lost to him for seven matches in a row. Shelbourne has not slowed down at all after winning the championship, has already won the Super Bowl and beat a pretty serious opponent at the start of the championship. The hosts are seriously inferior in class, so we do not think that Waterford will get points in today's confrontation.
Our prediction is that Shelburne will win in 2.10
Bet on the total
In recent matches, the teams had no problems playing offensively, but they often failed defensively. The guests managed to score a zero in the Super Bowl match, but it was their only dry match this year. Even in friendly matches with clubs from the First League, Shelbourne constantly missed. We believe that today's opponents will make a scoring extravaganza.
Our forecast is a total of more than 2.5 goals in 2.45 minutes.
Betting on corners
Shelbourne will not play giveaways in this confrontation and, as we believe, will be able to win the match not only on the score, but also on many other indicators, including corner kicks.
Our forecast is an Asian head start (0) on corners for Shelburne in 1.65