Giants set to collide in Division One league final

Donegal and Kerry collide in a repeat of last years All-Ireland final in Sunday's National Football League Division One decider at Croke Park (16:00 GMT).

The Kingdom lifted the Sam Maguire for the 39th time on that occasion, leaving the Tir Chonaill to lick their wounds over the winter months.

It's the first time in a decade that the league final is a repeat of the previous year's All-Ireland decider, Kerry losing to Dublin in both of those encounters.

The two best teams in the country are locking horns once again, there's no shortage of talking points, so BBC Sport NI will take you through a few of those.

Jack O'Connor has won the All-Ireland five times as manager of Kerry (2004, 2006, 2009, 2022 and 2025) and the one constant for all of those Sam Maguire successes, is that his side have won the National League earlier that year as a springboard for the big one down the line.

Jack was quick to play down any such omen when it was put to him last week, but then again, if it's not broken why fix it?

In short, no, that's unlikely, as Paudie Clifford is still returning from injury and it would be a shock if O'Connor fired him into the action on Sunday.

The Kerry boss did confirm after last weeks draw with Armagh that Paudie's recovery was going well and that they would maybe have risked playing him if it was the championship, but it's still not the championship this weekend, so it's unlikely he'll feature.

Neither Clifford travelled to Ballyshannon for Kerry's defeat to the Tir Chonaill in the league phase, but David has been in his usual inspired form, kicking just the 10 points in the Orchard County last week.

So expect to see David Clifford but Paudie will be left on the shelf for later in the year.

As we said earlier, this is a repeat of last year's All-Ireland final, and the fact that game was lost by Donegal would suggest gaining revenge and getting one up on their rivals would be high on their agenda.

You can be sure that the Ulster champions wouldn't throw their nose up at such a result, but in all reality any proper salvation would have to be earned through a big championship win at GAA HQ later this year.

To go purely statistical about who it may or may not mean more too, I'll leave you with the numbers and you can make your own mind up.

Donegal have only won one, Division One National Football League title, and that was all the way back in 2007, add their two All-Ireland wins (1992 and 2012) to that and it means only three national titles have returned to Tir Chonaill.

Kerry are the league holders after securing their 24th top tier league title last spring, add their 39 Sam Maguire successes to that and you get just the 63 titles that have went south to the Kingdom.

Both have four weeks to prep for the start of their championship campaigns after this weekend's league final.

Kerry get the defence of their Munster title up and running against Clare in Ennis on 25 April, Donegal bid to make it three Ulster titles in a row and open at the quarter-final stage against Down one day later (26 April) in Letterkenny.

In the eyes of many and on the evidence of last year's championship and this year's league these two are the best two sides in the country.

Many will expect and eagerly anticipate a meeting deep in the All-Ireland series at Croke Park later this summer, the winner of such a collision is likely to decide the destination of Sam Maguire.

For that reason, neither Jack O'Connor or Jim McGuinness are taking their side to Croke Park for a leisurely spin, they're looking to strike an early battle victory before the war is decided in July.