The first pieces of silverware in the 2021 Football Championship are up for grabs this weekend, with the Connacht and Munster finals taking place on Sunday.

Mayo vs Galway promises to be as tight as ever as the old rivals face off at Croke Park with the Nestor Cup on the line.

Focus then switches south, as Cork travel to Killarney, bidding to back up their shock victory over Kerry last November.

But who will come out on top? Former Kerry star Kieran Donaghy and retired Clare footballer Gary Brennan gave their thoughts on Inside The Game.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LCSSU2AB8CI%3Ffeature%3Doembed

Connacht SFC final

Kieran Donaghy: “It’s hard to see past Mayo for me. I think Galway will run them close, but I just think Mayo’s big-game experience, that’s a true thing. Galway don’t have a good record in Croke Park. They beat Kerry there in 2018, that was their first win there since Padraic Joyce played. Croke Park hasn’t been kind to them.

“Kicking in Croke Park, both into the Canal End and into the Hill 16 End, there is a bit of acclimatising to do. I always tried to do extra kicking in the warm-ups there. You see it in games, even with Dublin, how accurate they are in there, and then when you take them out of there, they kicked a lot of wides against Kerry in Thurles in the league and against Wexford [in the Leinster Championship].

“So it does take a bit of getting used to, and I think Mayo will edge it slightly for that reason.”

Gary Brennan: “I’ll have to lean towards Mayo as well. Their big-game experience [is key]. I think we have to see something from Galway that I don’t think we have seen yet.

“But that said, Padraic Joyce is a very proud Galway man. And he’s not going to let them lose to Mayo easily two years in a row.”

Munster SFC final

Kieran Donaghy: “I think Kerry will go out to win. The talk inside the camp will be ‘a win is a win’ and they found out the hard way last year. But for me, Kerry will want to go one further, not only win, but win well, and give themselves that confidence going into what will be a very tough semi-final against either Monaghan or Tyrone. They will want to win well to have that confidence going in there.”

Gary Brennan: “I’m not going to give Kerry quite the 10-plus points [winning margin].

“Cork will probably try and set up very defensively as they did last year, and hope they can pick off scores on the break and keep it as tight as they can. I’m not sure whether they will go with the double sweeper in the way that Tipperary tried. Clare were probably the other extreme and left themselves a bit open. Cork will probably try and sit somewhere in the middle.

“Cork have strong runners with the ball, but I’m not sure that’s the way to play this Kerry team. So I would say Kerry by five or six points.”

Watch the full discussion on Inside The Game on the Sky Sports YouTube channel. You can watch new episodes every Wednesday evening on Sky Sports Arena.

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