A record attendance for an All-Ireland semi-final of 68,000 is expected at Croke Park tomorrow as Kerry and Meath meet to decide who will play Galway in the Bank of Ireland football final in three weeks. The expected crowd reflects the enormous levels of interest in this match. No fixture this season has commanded such anticipation among neutrals.

Even more impressively, semi-final tickets are selling out in Kerry.

There are a number of reasons for the widespread fascination. The counties are the two most successful in the current game, each with two All-Ireland titles apiece.

Meath are the masters of survival and in the 19 years Seβn Boylan has been in charge of them, they have rarely been beaten in a tight finish. Kerry are forward-driven stylists with a number of exceptional individuals - and, of course, the defending champions.

History is also important. Kerry beat Meath at the same stage of the championship 15 years ago, the counties' most recent championship meeting.

Over the intervening years, Meath supplanted Kerry as football's brand leaders as their haul of six provincial and four All-Ireland titles in that period indicates. But Boylan hasn't yet sent out a team to beat Kerry in the championship.

Beyond these broader considerations are two slightly flawed teams who struggled to get past the quarter-finals. Kerry were obviously superior to Dublin but took two matches to beat them by only a score.

Westmeath were a tougher proposition and Meath battled to survive on restricted possession.

Yet the stereotyping misleads. Meath's forwards are if anything more formidable than Kerry's. Ollie Murphy's ability to conjure goals when the team desperately needs them has been a characteristic of the season and his understanding with Graham Geraghty has been the rock on which Meath's opponents have perished.

On the other hand, Kerry's defence is more settled than Meath's.

Seamus Moynihan and Eamonn Fitzmaurice have been a solid centrepiece, even if the former's displays at full back haven't been as scintillating as last year. Kerry are also resilient. Twelve months ago they went to the brink against Armagh and Galway but recovered.

Last month they pulled the Dublin match out of the fire when unexpectedly in arrears.

Both sides field effectively two-man full-forward lines. Moynihan and Michael McCarthy will take Geraghty and Murphy and at the other end, the outstanding John Crowley may well be picked up by Darren Fay, who is unlikely to follow Dara ╙ CinnΘide or Eoin Brosnan out the field. Mark O'Reilly is likely to mark Michael Francis Russell, probably with Hank Traynor moving out and Cormac Murphy again switching to the half backs.

Given the inconsistent nature of the defence - Fay has been holding the full-back line together and the half backs have been unsettled - it was surprising that Paddy Reynolds wasn't called back to lend his pace to the wings. But a slight injury seems to be the most likely explanation given that he didn't line out for his club last weekend - something any player returning from a two-month suspension would otherwise have been expected to do.

Kerry will miss the suspended Tomβs ╙ SΘ, whose abrasive presence would have been well suited to combative opponents. His replacement, Mike Hassett, is, however, an experienced defender.

Centrefield will have a significant influence as both teams try to hit quick ball into their forwards.

John McDermott looked sharp in training during the week but the Kerry pairing of Darragh ╙ SΘ and Donal Daly have more done this year.

Compensating Meath is the return to top form of Trevor Giles. If he picks up enough ball around the middle, Murphy and Geraghty will get plenty of opportunity.

The teams' quarter-finals can be looked at from either angle. Meath would hardly miss the goal chances that Dublin squandered against the Munster champions but similarly Kerry wouldn't choke on the series of opportunities that Westmeath created by virtue of greater possession.

This match is extremely hard to call and will be decisively influenced by any variation in form on the part of key players. If there is a slight preference for Kerry it is on the basis that Meath's defence has not been exactly cast-iron. Fay has nursed his corner backs through the championship and although O'Reilly rediscovered his form against Westmeath's Ger Heavin, Russell will test that recovery. The team will drop back and crowd Kerry but Armagh couldn't make that one stick last year.

Meath's robust collective effort, work-ethic and scoring options from deep will pressurise Kerry but the champions have worked through so many different challenges that they simply look better equipped to score more than their opponents. But not that much.

A small number of tickets for tomorrow's Kerry-Meath All-Ireland semi-final will go on sale at the New Stand in Croke Park this morning from 10 a.m. until sold out.