Kerry v Cork: On the face of it, this Bank of Ireland Munster football semi-final should be a bit of a damp squib. Kerry, under Jack O'Connor's serenely sensible management, have won the NFL in good style and are amongst the short odds for the All-Ireland.
Cork, on the other hand, are missing four significant players through suspension and injury and travel to Killarney with an improvised line-up and two years of traumatic championship endings behind them.
The transforming presence this weekend is Billy Morgan, back for his first championship match on the line since losing to the same opponents eight years ago. Since resuming command he has steadied the ship and sorted out the crew.
Observers have noticed two things of relevance: the upbeat mood in the camp and how relaxed and calm Morgan has been ahead of this forbidding test. Were Cork at full strength this would be a very tight call. There should be a reasonably large travelling contingent at Fitzgerald Stadium as the venue tends to attract bigger Cork crowds for this fixture than Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Nonetheless the basic problem of quality remains. There are so many question marks throughout the team that an awful of lot of imponderables are going to have to come good on the day if there is to be a surprise.
Even looked at centrally, Cork can't be sure. Derek Kavanagh hasn't played full back at this level before and Martin Cronin's experience at centre back is pretty limited.
Centrefield is one of the better sectors but Ciarán O'Sullivan would probably have been used as an impact sub rather than a starter were it not for the injury list. His craft and leadership skills more than justify his recall but he lacks the pace and mobility to put Eamonn Fitzmaurice under serious pressure.
The attack is very short of guaranteed hitmen. And that's not all - given Kerry's power surges from wing back, can Alan Cronin and Conor McCarthy defend against Tomás Ó Sé and Séamus Moynihan?
Kerry aren't entirely carefree. The laboured win over Clare was a swift corrective to any complacency that developed after the league final but it still raised questions.
William Kirby had to pick up the slack as Darragh Ó Sé struggled at centrefield, suggesting that his long-term ankle injury may be a serious hindrance this season. Ó Sé has enjoyed purple passages in this fixture in the past but the Cork pairing of Graham Canty and Diarmuid Hurley will be hard to beat.
Canty is an exceptional player, and championship debutant Hurley will be solid. Canty may be needed elsewhere should there be problems at centre back or full back, in which case Nicholas Murphy will come into centrefield.
Kerry are sticking with John Crowley at full forward but, although he has scored three goals in two matches, he is far from the sort of form that got him short-listed for footballer of the year in 2001.
This deployment also forces Declan O'Sullivan back to the 40, from where his natural scoring threat is limited and diminished further by his tendency to drop deep.
Still the vote has to go to Kerry. Their own spirit and morale are high, so unity of purpose won't give Cork any edge. Defensively they look capable of absorbing what the visitors have to offer, and up front they carry a greater scoring threat.
KERRY: D Murphy; T O'Sullivan, M McCarthy, A O'Mahony; T Ó Sé, E Fitzmaurice, S Moynihan; D Ó Sé, W Kirby; L Hassett, D O'Sullivan, E Brosnan; C Cooper, J Crowley, MF Russell.
CORK: K O'Dwyer; S O'Brien, D Kavanagh, N O'Leary; O Sexton, M Cronin, G Murphy; D Hurley, G Canty; A Cronin, C O'Sullivan, C McCarthy; C Crowley, M Ó Cróinín, K O'Sullivan.
Referee: B White (Wexford).
