From the very start of the year I thought Kilkenny were going to be the team to beat for the All-Ireland and nothing about their progression to the semi-final has changed that. Galway were an unknown quantity for so long this summer, and they probably didn't even know themselves how they were going to play against Tipperary.

Now that they've won a match, they are certainly dangerous but it would definitely come as a greater shock here if they were to win.

To be honest, I was a little surprised to see Ollie Canning moved all the way into corner back.

He may not have been completely on form against Tipperary but the management are obviously worried about the pace in the Kilkenny full forward line. It's a gamble for them.

It's no surprise at all to see Kilkenny name the same team. For the first half hour of the Leinster final, there was nothing between them and Offaly, but once DJ Carey got his goal, Kilkenny just took over. They had a few injury worries in John Power, Henry Shefflin and Peter Barry but they've obviously come through those.

Galway will have received a great boost from the win over Tipperary. It was the type of game that they may have lost over the past three or four years but there was no great celebrations in that it was just the first step for them. There was very much a sense in that they haven't won anything yet.

Overall, however, I see Kilkenny with the greater potential to come through this. They want to go all the way and from the start of the year they have felt that they have to win the All-Ireland.

And they do look the part. For Brian Cody as well, it's the second year in the job and I think he will be that little bit wiser.

They do rely on some key players, and none more so than John Power who holds one of the most influential roles in the team. He runs at the defence and lays the ball off for players like DJ Carey, Henry Shefflin, Charlie Carter and so on. His work-rate is incredible.

Having said that, Cathal Moore is a superb player with the strength to match Power - so whoever comes out on top there is going to have a big bearing on the game.

As well as that, some people have question marks about the centre of the Kilkenny defence. It's Noel Hickey's first championship campaign and Eamonn Kennedy was replaced at various stages last year by Pat O'Neill, although neither of them showed any great shortcomings in the Leinster final.

For Galway to win this, all their key players will have to perform at their best, especially the likes of Brian Feeney on DJ Carey. If they don't concede any goals they have a real chance, especially with the forwards they have. As always, Joe Rabbitte is central to the movement of the attack, and he certainly did the business in the last 10 minutes against Tipperary.

Fergal Healy and Ollie Fahy will need to show a little more commitment and, apart from Eugene Cloonan, none of the forwards can be happy about the way they played the last day. David Tierney is a useful introduction, but Alan Kerins, who I rate very highly, didn't produce his best game against Tipperary and he'll need to step up significantly as well.

So if you have those four or five guys playing at their best, Galway will make it very difficult for Kilkenny. Strategically, I do see Kilkenny trying to exploit the pace they have in their full-forward line, and the half forwards will try and play further out the field to leave space for DJ and Carter inside.

They do have a number of serious ball winners in that Brian McEvoy and Andy Comerford are very good in the air and Stephen Grehan is an excellent assistant for Power.

There is no lack of confidence in this Galway team, but it's different for Kilkenny. Ger Loughnane said to us after the Munster finals of 1993 and 1994 that there was a wound that needed to be healed and they only way you can do that is to go out and win. It's the same with Kilkenny, having lost the last two finals and they have the hardened experience now to make it count. A lot of those players have yet to win an All-Ireland and I'd imagine at this stage they want it badly. And that's exactly what you want going into a game like this.

In an interview with Ian O'Riordan