Cork City vs Sligo Rovers Predictions, Lineups and Betting Tips Predictions

Cork City vs Sligo Rovers Predictions, Lineups and Betting Tips

Match Details: July 25th, 2025 | Turner’s Cross, Cork | Irish Premier Division

Friday’s Irish Premier Division action see’s ninth place face 10th place, as both Cork City and Sligo Rovers attempt to make late surges away from the relegation spots.

Cork sit in 10th, while Sligo sit well clear of them in ninth, but both have a lot of ground to make up if they are to catch Galway United, who occupy the last guaranteed safe spot in eighth. A win here would give the victorious side a huge boost.

Key Betting Tip: Both teams to score at odds of 1.71 represents excellent value for the tip provided by our in-house tipsters.

Cork City vs Sligo Rovers Predicted Lineups

Cork City Predicted XI (5-3-2): David Odumosu (GK); Darragh Crowley, Rory Feely, Matthew Kiernan, Fiacre Kelleher, Cathal O’Sullivan; Evan McLaughlin, Greg Bolger, Malik Djiksteel; Kitt Nelson, Sean Maguire.

Cork City finally snapped their rotten streak of 13 winless games in all competitions last time out, grabbing a deserved win over Leicester Celtic in the FAI Cup. However, it is a relatively meaningless win in the grand scheme of their season, and certainly didn’t help them move any closer to safety.

Cork will have to deal with various missing players for this fixture. Centre back Charlie Lyons is out through suspension, while Benny Couto and Ruiari Keating are missing through respective ankle and muscle injuries.

Sligo Rovers Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Sam Sargeant (GK); Williams Fitzgerald, Patrick McClean, Oliver Denham, Conor Reynolds; Jake Doyle-Hayes; James McManus; Ryan O’Kane, Jad Hakiki, Owen Elding; Wilson Waweru.

Currently on their best run of form so far this season, don’t expect wide scale changes ahead of this one - coach John Russell has finally found an approach that works, and he will try to stick to it at all costs.

With three wins and two draws in their last five competitive games, as well as John Mahon being the only squad member absent for this game (through) suspension, Rovers come into this one as firm favourites.

Cork City vs Sligo Rovers Current League Standings

Cork City currently sit rock bottom and eight points behind the relative safety of the relegation play-off place that Sligo occupy in 9th place.

Managing just two league wins all season, it has been Cork’s worst campaign in recent memory, and the fans are already looking ahead to a campaign in the second tier. However, a win here would considerably boost their chances of catching Sligo.

Sligo themselves are six points behind eighth place Galway United, who occupy the last safe spot in the league. However, on an excellent run of form and playing the most out of form team in the league, the away side will be hopeful of closing the gap on Friday.

Cork City vs Sligo Rovers Head to Head Timeline

The two sides have met 37 times since 2011, and their head to head record between the two is remarkably tight. 13 have ended level, while Sligo Rovers have won 10, leaving Cork with the narrow psychological advantage having notched 14 wins.

Last Five Head to Head Meetings:

• Apr 2025: Sligo Rovers 1-1 Cork City.
• Mar 2025: Cork City 1-1 Sligo Rovers.
• Sept 2023: Cork City 3-0 Sligo Rovers.
• July 2023: Sligo Rovers 3-0 Cork City.
• May 2023: Cork City 1-0 Sligo Rovers.

Cork are undefeated in four of the sides last five meetings, and boast the most recent win in this encounter, which came in September 2023.

Sligo’s last victory in this clash came two months prior, as goals from Johan Brannefalk, Max Mata and Stefan Radosavljevic saw them ease to 3-0 win.

Cork City and Sligo Rovers Recent Match Analysis

Cork City Last Five Games:

• Cork City 3-0 Leicester Celtic (FAI Cup Round of 32)
• Waterford FC 2-0 Cork City (Irish Premier Division)
• Cork City 1-2 Celtic (Club Friendly)
• Shelbourne 3-1 Cork City (Irish Premier Division)
• Cork City 0-0 St Patrick’s Athletic (Irish Premier Division)

Cork City have been so poor. They have scored just four times in their last seven league games, and their only victory since April came last time out against Leicester Celtic, a side currently residing in Ireland’s fourth tier.

Their major flaw is that they rarely have control of the ball - in two of their last three games, they have had less than 41% possession of the ball. To make matters worse, when they do have the ball they can’t do anything with it - they had 76%of the possession against Drogheda United, and managed 22 shots on goal, but still somehow contrived to draw 1-1.

Sligo Rovers Last Five Games:

• Dundalk 0-2 Sligo Rovers (FAI Cup)
• Sligo Rovers 2-0 Derry City (Irish Premier Division)
• Sligo Rovers 2-2 Shamrock Rovers (Irish Premier Division)
• Bohemian FC 1-1 Sligo Rovers (Irish Premier Division)
• Sligo Rovers 2-1 Galway United (Irish Premier Division)

Undergoing something of a revival in recent weeks, Sligo are not an easy opposition to face in the vein of form they are in. Advancing to the next round of the cup, as well as drawing to runaway leaders Shamrock Rovers will have lifted morale to sky high levels.

Their focus will still be on securing survival, but in such form, they will be starting to think they can win every match, especially when coming up against bottom of the table Cork. They may not be safe yet, but they are well on their way.

Cork City vs Sligo Rovers Prediction

Our advanced algorithm has analyzed over 200 data points to predict that Sligo Rovers will continue their good form, earning a 3-1 win over their struggling opponents here. The model factors in current form, head to head records, player availability and tactical matchups.

Cork City vs Sligo Rovers Betting Tip

Football Park’s Best Bet: Both teams to score - while Sligo will almost certainly win, they have been vulnerable to lapses in concentration at the back. While the margin will be too large to matter, we think Cork will grab a goal thanks to a moment of madness, hence the best bet being both teams to score.

Players to Watch: Cork City vs Sligo Rovers

Benny Couto (Cork City): The best of a bad bunch, left back Benny Couto is arguably the only Cork City player to have earned any admiration up to this point. Despite only playing 13 games this season, he is one of the most creative full backs in the division, and has shown himself to be a capable defender too. Should Cork City be relegated at the end of the season, something which looks increasingly likely, don’t expect Couto to go down with them.

Owen Elding (Sligo Rovers): Sligo’s star player, right-winger Elding has been setting the Premier Division on fire this season despite Sligo’s lowly league position. His eight goals are double that of any of his teammates, and he also boasts three assists, showing that he can be a creator as well as a finisher. Facing up against Darragh Crowley, who is one of the lowest rated players in the league (according to FotMob), Elding could well have a field day here.

Stadium Details: This game is set to be hosted at Cork City’s home ground, Turner’s Cross. Capable of holding over 7 '400 fans, the compact stadium provides a superb atmosphere which will bring a derby like feel to this relegation six pointer.