Of all the championship games so far this summer, I think Clare's game against Galway is one of the hardest to read for a number of reasons. There are big questions over both sides, but there is every reason to believe that it's going to be a very close and exciting game.

You look at Clare this summer and you have to say they've been very inconsistent. They were poor in the first game against Tipperary and then performed tremendously the second day. After that it was difficult to get motivated for Cork in the Munster final and their game really dropped. I still believe that if they had come level that day then they could have won it, but of course that's history now.

The injury to Ollie Baker and the fact the Jamesie O'Connor won't be starting has put the Clare selectors into a quandary. It is surprising to see Baker in the team at all and I can't see him playing his usual big role. With the level of fitness required you have to wonder if he will be at his best, and even though he has been working hard on a recovery, I'm not convinced he'll be playing at all.

But I wouldn't completely discount O'Connor making some sort of appearance. A lot will depend again on how the Clare forwards can lift their performance without him, because that was a problem against Cork. Overall you look at the Clare forwards and you have to ask whether they are good enough to beat the Galway backs. Again that will come down to tactics and who plays where. We may see Joe Rabbitte coming in to full forward for Galway, but either way they'll need to stop Seanie McMahon, because that's the only way you can nullify the Clare halfback line. If Enda Flannery plays at centre forward then we'll see a big battle with Cathal Moore. They're both big men. Conor Clancy is such a strong player as well and he'll be well matched by Brian Feeney, so you have lots of interesting duels around the place.

Either side of Moore, Paul Hardiman and Nigel Shaughnessy are both very experienced, but the problem is that they haven't tasted victory and mentally that can have an effect and may come against them.

The reintroduction of Joe Cooney and Rabbitte has been one of the main talking points of this Galway team. I'd have a question mark over Cooney for the simple reason that he hasn't played at inter-county level for two years. In the modern game, fitness and mobility are vital and I have to wonder if he can last the pace.

The Galway forwards still like to run the ball and that's why they have mobile players like Ollie Canning and Alan Kerins at wing forward.

The likes of Kevin Broderick, Ollie Fahy and Eugene Cloonan are very fast as well and they'll be looking to exploit that speed. Broderick and Cloonan have come up from underage level and won All-Irelands here and there. Still, Galway has done nothing special at senior level in recent years.

Mattie Murphy has distilled a new team spirit and something of a new style of play as well, although it's hard to do that with the older players. I don't think Galway have any fear of Clare because they know each other too well. Galway will make sure it's a great game, but the big problem is that they haven't had a tough match since last May.

They'll be extremely fresh and on paper they look likely to be a highly capable team, but they are untested. Their last serious match was in the National League final two and a half months back and that may be a problem.

It comes down to a fresh side against an experienced but battle-worn side. Just how weary Clare are we'll have to wait and see, but this is definitely another game they didn't want. The other interesting point is that Clare and Galway know each other so well. They've been playing regularly in challenge matches and there is real rivalry. Fergus Flynn is from Clare, so his involvement is interesting in itself.

So much will depend on Clare's attitude. They badly want to get into that semi-final because it's a whole new game again after that. It's going to be very close, but I think that Clare can reorganise themselves enough to just about get there.

Looking at Offaly and Antrim, a lot of people are saying this will be an easy route for Offaly. But Antrim will remember the 1989 game and will be looking for a similar surprise this time out. They are so much more focused on this championship compared to the league and Seamus Elliot has done an awful lot of good work with them. Offaly showed poorly against Kilkenny, probably because none of their key players had a big performance. I felt Stephen Byrne was suspect against Wexford and he certainly was against Kilkenny, and that affected the whole defence. The backs will have to tighten up, and a lot of the Kilkenny goals the last day should have been stopped.

It's time for them to forget about last year's All-Ireland and start concentrating on this year's competition. If they go out grateful that they've got the second chance and work for the result like they did last year then they should win it by seven or eight points. But they'll have to approach it properly or else we could be in for a shock.

In an interview with Ian O'Riordan