(7.45 unless stated)

Shelbourne v Cork City

With the Dublin club unbeaten in their four games so far and the visitors fresh from their defeat of St Patrick's Athletic last Saturday everything looks nicely set up for the season's first meeting between two of the championship contenders.

Neither side is at full strength, though, with Shelbourne, in addition to the continued absence of Neil Ogden, James Keddy and Greg Costello, also expecting to be without Gary Haylock who has appealed the suspension due to keep him out this evening but not, it seems, in time to actually play.

City come to town without either Stephen Napier or Fergus O'Donoghue, both of whom have hamstring injuries. However, the visitors have all of the team that beat the champions available to them and so there is unlikely to be too much desire for change.

Dave Barry admits to being impressed with Shelbourne's form this season and may revert to the 44-2 favoured by the southerners for much of last season in order to cope with the way Dermot Keely has his side playing.

Last season: City 2 Shelbourne 1, Shelbourne 3 City 3, City 2 Shelbourne 1.

Recent league form: Shelbourne: DWDW; City: WLWW.

Betting: Home: 6/4, Draw: 11/5, Away: 6/4. Referee: P McKeon (Dublin).

UCD v Finn Harps

For the home side, last week's defeat can be put down to a variety of reasons with poor refereeing their favourite theory. A second loss in a row would be a little more damaging after what had been a solid enough start to the new campaign.

Theo Dunne feels that his side are well capable of bouncing back from Sunday's disappointment, but that's without taking account of the opposition whose poor start to the new campaign has been much talked about.

Dunne has worries about a couple of his defenders with Alan Mahon and Aidan Lynch both doubtful, but he is optimistic that at least one will play. If one doesn't make it then Eamon McLoughlin will come in at full back with, in the event that it is Lynch who sits the game out, Tony McDonnell reverting to central defence alongside Clive Delaney.

For Harps, under-21 international Stephen Grant will probably make his debut having signed a short-term contract with the club. Charlie McGeever has been keen since the summer to add some height and strength to the forward line and, with the former Middlesbrough, Everton and Watford striker expected to complete his move to Ballybofey over the weekend, he will have some more options over the coming weeks.

Mark Hutchison is suspended for this evening's game but everybody else, says McGeever, is available and aware of the urgency of the situation. "It's something that we're all very concerned about. The fixture list for the first few weeks was a nightmare, but to have no points from four games is a very poor situation. We have to continue the improvement we started to show against St Patrick's and Shelbourne last weekend."

Last season: Harps 0 UCD 0, UCD 3 Harps 0, Harps 1 UCD 0.

Recent league form: UCD: WDDL; Harps: LLLL.

Betting: Home: 4/6, Draw: 12/5, Away: 7/2. Referee: T Tully (Cork).

Waterford v Galway (7.30)

It is, of course, ridiculously early to talk of six-pointers, but neither manager is under any illusions about the importance of performing against those likely to finish in the bottom six, so there should be a little bit of an extra edge this evening.

Galway's hope for the season would be to stay up, gain a bit of experience at the higher level and then start to look towards the future, but a year on the early signs for Waterford are that it's going to be another struggle unless they can finally discover a way to score goals with a greater degree of regularity. To this end United were hoping to complete registration of former Shamrock Rovers striker Brendan Markey ahead of the tie.

With Dominic Iorfa reported to have departed, the options up front are a little limited. For now, Mike Flanagan must get the men he has to score more (one goal, from a penalty, is all they have to show to date). Matters are not helped either by the fact that Christian Hyslop and Gerard Stirling (achilles and groin respectively) are both likely to miss the game, although there is some good news in the form of Alan Reynolds's availability for a first start of the season.

Galway, in contrast to their hosts, have scored in every game so far and will come into this game on a bit of a high after beating UCD last week. Ollie Keogh is a doubt due to a virus.

Last season: Did not meet. Recent league form: Waterford: LLWL; Galway: DDLW.

Betting: Home: 6/4, Draw: 11/5, Away: 6/4. Referee: J McDermott (Dublin).

First Division

While Joey Malone reckons that he has a squad as strong as Bray's, events thus far would tend to suggest otherwise and defeat for the home side this evening would leave them a long way adrift of last season's cup winners for such an early point in the season. Athlone do at least have Alan Oliver back again, but Colin Fortune is doubtful. Trevor Moylan is still out too leaving Malone with a bit of juggling to do.

Wanderers, meanwhile, expect to be without Ray Kenny and Stephen Fox again, but having stuck five past Cobh last week that may not concern Pat Devlin. John Walsh is also doubtful with Alan Young set to continue to deputise if the club's first choice goalkeeper is ruled out for another week.

Fixture: Athlone Town v Bray Wanderers.

Betting courtesy of Paddy Power