Sitting nicely at the top of the table, Shelbourne Rovers are 3 points clear of Derry City with many punters beginning to ponder: will Shelbourne Rovers win the Irish Premier Division this year?
Dublin outfit Shelbourne Rovers have won the League of Ireland 13 times but you’ll need to go back to 2006 for the last time they were Kings of Irish football.
Shelbourne Rovers will be hoping that this season, they can finally add another division title to their name and close the gap to some of their rivals.
Form
In the 28 games that Shelbourne has played this far in the 2024 season, they’ve won 14, scored 31 goals, and conceded 18.
Shelbourne has had a testing run of recent fixtures whilst juggling Europe Conference League qualification and their last 5 games have been a bit of a mixed bag:
- 1-0 win against Dundalk on 30th August
- 1-1 draw with Bohemians on 23rd August
- 2-1 loss to Sligo Rovers on 10th August
- 1-0 win against Bray on 21st July
- 1-1 draw against Drogheda on 4th July
Damien Duff’s Shelbourne will be hoping to return to regular winning ways like earlier on in the year if they are to win this year’s Irish Premier Division title.
Key Players
Centre forward Will Jarvis has been doing the business for Shelbourne Rovers this season with 9 goals across all competitions. The Englishman however is on a bit of a goal drought at the moment with his last goal coming against Waterford back in June.
Another goal scorer who needs to regain his form is Sean Boyd. Boyd has been instrumental in the Rover’s success this season but he too hasn’t scored a goal since May which came against Sligo.
Duff will be relatively pleased that the assists coming from Shelbourne’s goals this season have been evenly distributed throughout the team, with Jarvis leading with 4, and left-back Tyreke Wilson with 3.
Rivals
One team that has underwhelmed this season is Shamrock Rovers. Despite being the most successful team in the division and having won the Irish Premier Division for the last 4 years running, Shamrock Rovers currently sit at 6th in the table with just 39 points. Sure enough, most bookies believe that despite their recent legacy, Shamrock Rovers have left it too late with bet365 having them down at 16/1 as outright league winners.
On the heels of Shelbourne however, is Derry City. Derry currently are just 3 points off Shelbourne and the Rovers will feel relieved that Derry’s form has likewise been mixed as of late with just 1 win out of their last 5 league outings. Derry City are currently the highest goal scorers in the league with a whopping 42 goals in 29 games played thus far. There’s not much to separate Derry from Shelbourne this season and bet365 have their chances at 5/4, whilst William Hill price it at 11/10.
One team that is picking up more form is Sligo Rovers. Sligo sit in 3rd and although they are 9 points from the top, they have an excellent record at home and have 3 wins from their last 5 league games. The market is unconvinced with bet365 pricing Sligo at 50/1.
Galway United meanwhile sit a point behind Sligo but benefit from having a game in hand. bet365 have them at 25/1.
Shelbourne Rovers Odds
Is Damian Duff going to take his team back into the history books winning the Irish Premier Division again? There’s not much between them and Derry City, but as for now, Shelbourne Rovers remain favourites to win the league: