Lie of the land - How the All-Ireland SFC round-robins groups are shaping up

Donegal will be looking to win in Cavan this afternoon to get themselves back on a more even keel in Group 1 of the All-Ireland SFC round-robin stage. 

Thus far, all three games in the group have been won by the away teams, with Tyrone defeating the side managed by Jim McGuinness 2-17 to 0-20 last Saturday night in Ballybofey, following on from Cavan's 1-17 to 1-14 success in Mayo. Then, last night in Omagh, Mayo produced a fine win on the road in Omagh to defeat Tyrone 2-17 to 1-14.

After Cavan clash with Donegal, the final series of games - taking place at neutral venues in two weeks time - sees Donegal take on Mayo and Tyrone play Cavan.

The winners of the group go straight into the All-Ireland quarter-finals on the weekend of June 28/29. The sides that come second will play at home against those who come third in the four groups in the preliminary quarter-finals on June 21/22, with the team that comes bottom eliminated. 

Winning the group guarantees a free weekend and a seeded quarter-final against a team who will have to slug their way through the preliminary quarter-finals. 

Therefore all three other teams in the group have two points - Mayo, with a +4 score difference, Cavan with a +3 and Tyrone are now on -4. Donegal, having played just once are still pointless on -3.

If Donegal beat Cavan
Donegal can move level with all three other sides on two points with a win of any sort at Breffni Park. They will need a win of at least seven points to move level with Mayo on top of the group, then it will come down to the number of points scored.

At the end of all the games, if only two teams are tied on the same points, their head-to-head will be the differential, whereas if three or four teams are tied, it will come down to score difference.

Last year, Donegal lost to Cork but still topped their group ahead of Tyrone and Cork, on points difference, with all three ending up with four points and Clare with none.

Should Donegal win, or even draw today, that scenario of three teams finishing on four points cannot happen, as every team will have something on the board.

Therefore, if Donegal want to win the group, they will need to win today and against Mayo, and hope that Cavan either beat or draw with Tyrone in the third series. 

If Cavan win
Any win for the home team today will mean a top two finish in the group for Cavan, then taking their chances at top spot, needing to pick up a draw or better with Tyrone. If Donegal lose today, they will have to beat Mayo - for both the points and the head-to-head, no matter what to gain a chance of a play-off.

Score difference can only come into play in this scenario of Cavan also win against Tyrone to go onto six points, meaning points difference will differentiate Donegal, Mayo and Tyrone for second, third and fourth places, with all three finishing on two points. If Cavan can win today and draw with Tyrone, they will take spots on and two respectively, leaving Donegal and Mayo to shoot out for third.  

If it's a draw
A draw will also leave Donegal in a precarious position, needing to beat Mayo in the final set of fixtures to harbour any hopes of a preliminary quarter-final at best.

Other groups
Although there are fixtures to play today, with some teams having only played once, the current group leaders are Kerry, Down and Armagh; the second-placed teams are Meath, Monaghan and Dublin, with Roscommon, Louth and Galway in third place.