GAA Betting: Cork Are All-Ireland Hurling Favourites
By
This year’s action doesn’t get underway until Saturday week, but betting sites have odds available for the likely candidates for All-Ireland senior hurling championship glory in 2025.
At 2pm on Saturday, April 19, Wexford and Antrim will have the honour of taking to the field in the first game of this year’s championship.
On their home patch of Wexford Park, the Slaneysiders will be looking to hit the ground running in the Leinster senior hurling championship.
Later that same day, a Kilkenny side chasing a sixth successive Leinster crown will host Galway at Nowlan Park.
Completing the day’s fare in the eastern province, Dublin are set to entertain the newly-promoted Offaly in a 6pm throw-in at Parnell Park.
Whereas all six teams in Leinster will kick-start their campaigns this weekend, the fact there are only five counties in the Munster senior hurling championship means that one side will have a bye for each round of fixtures.
Peter Queally’s Waterford will be idle for the opening round of games in the province – fresh from their recent triumph over Offaly in a National Hurling League Division 1B final.
Cork Favourites For Liam MacCarthy
Despite ultimately losing out to Clare in last July’s Liam MacCarthy Cup decider, Cork did manage to secure wins over Limerick in both the Munster championship and the All-Ireland championship in 2024.
They also played out a draw with the Treaty during the group stages of this year’s National Hurling League Division 1A, a game in which Darragh Fitzgibbon helped himself to 10 points for the Leesiders.
It proved to be a successful spring campaign for Pat Ryan’s side, culminating in them winning the top-tier league title courtesy of a 3-24 to 0-23 victory over Tipperary on their home pitch of Pairc Ui Chaoimh last Sunday.
The Rebel County are certainly in excellent form ahead of their Munster SHC odyssey, and BetVictor have installed them as favourites for the championship at 13/8.
Limerick Second Favourites To Regain Title
The four teams that remain in Munster are set to play out a brace of intriguing battles on Sunday, April 20.
After Clare and Cork clash in a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland SFC final, Tipperary will take on the province’s current holders Limerick at Semple Stadium in Thurles.
With only the top three teams in both provincial championships afforded spots in the knockout rounds of the Liam MacCarthy Cup, each side will be eager to hit the ground running in their respective openers.
Over the last few years, Limerick have found themselves coming into the All-Ireland senior hurling championship as the favourites to win it.
When you consider they won the Liam MacCarthy for four years on the trot from 2020 to 2023 – and also secured the top-tier title in 2018 – this comes as little surprise.
However, this isn’t the case coming into the 2025 championship, as they trail Cork in the All-Ireland hurling odds at 2/1 with betting apps.
Cats Ready To Pounce
While they dominated senior hurling for an extended period following Cork’s most recent championship success in 2005, it is now 10 years since Kilkenny got their hands on the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
Yet, after Galway (2017 and 2018) and Wexford (2019) climbed to the top of the Leinster ladder, Kilkenny started to flex their muscles in the provincial championship once again.
Their record in the round-robin phase of Leinster hasn’t always been perfect, but the past five editions of the competition have ended with them claiming final victories.
Another provincial triumph would grant them automatic qualification for an All-Ireland semi-final, which could leave them within 70 minutes of reaching a Liam MacCarthy decider.
They fell short to Clare in the last four of the 2024 championship, but the Noresiders had defeated the same opposition at the same stage of the All-Ireland series in the previous two years.
It is always dangerous to count Kilkenny out of the equation, and this goes some way to explaining why William Hill have them as third favourites for an All-Ireland title behind Cork and Limerick at 8/1.
Clare And Galway In The Running
Priced at 9/1 with GAA betting sites are defending champions Clare.
Like Armagh in the football championship, it seems strange that the competition’s holders are some way down the pecking order in the race for this year’s top prize.
Of course, it took the Banner a long time to reach the heights of their previous All-Ireland success in 2013 and this may be factored into the thinking of some bookmakers.
However, if they manage to get the better of Cork in Ennis on Sunday week, that could change very quickly.
With three wins and three defeats to their name, it was a decidedly mixed campaign for Galway in this year’s National Hurling League Division 1A.
Manager Micheal Donoghue is in his second spell at the helm, and he spent the spring months examining the options available to him – presumably to establish a strong panel for the championship.
The expectation is that it might take some time before Galway are genuine contenders for an All-Ireland success, as it was during his first tenure.
Nonetheless, with odds of 14/1, the Westerners have an outside chance of success.
Tipp And Waterford Given Outside Chance
For much of the National Hurling League, Tipperary looked like a team hell-bent on enjoying a long summer of championship action.
Although this might still happen, the comprehensive nature of their league final loss to Cork has led to some fresh doubts.
Getting out of the Munster championship will be their priority for now, but as regards their All-Ireland senior hurling credentials, the odds on the Premier County lifting national silverware in July are rated at 16/1.
The odds are slightly longer on their provincial adversaries, Waterford, with the 25/1 offered by William Hill being the best value available on the Deise.
Even though at least one of them will make it to the knockout stages of the All-Ireland championship, the Leinster quartet of Wexford, Dublin, Offaly and Antrim are viewed as rank outsiders for the Liam MacCarthy Cup.