GAA Betting: Who Are The Contenders For 2025 National Hurling League Title?

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GAA Betting: Who Are The Contenders For 2025 National Hurling League Title?

The competition is set to take a momentary pause before resuming the weekend after next, but after three intense rounds of competitive fare, the betting sites are once again examining who the main contenders are for this year’s National Hurling League.

While it was Cork’s turn to take a break last weekend, the remaining six sides in Division 1A were in action across Saturday and Sunday in three different provinces.

On Saturday at Chadwicks Wexford Park, two goals from Mossy Keoghan and an eight-point haul by Eoin Cody helped Kilkenny to record a 2-17 to 0-15 triumph at the expense of Wexford. 

Later on the same day at Pearse Stadium in Salthill, Anthony Burns amassed an impressive tally of 2-3 as Galway got the better of near rivals and defending champions Clare on a final score of 2-21 to 0-20.

The TUS Gaelic Grounds was the setting for a thrilling encounter between Limerick and Tipperary on Sunday. 

Although their opponents had a number of fine performers throughout the game, the scoring prowess of Diarmaid Byrnes (0-7), Aidan O’Connor (0-5) and Aaron Gillane (0-4) helped Limerick to earn a 0-30 to 1-23 success over their provincial adversaries.

Limerick Favourites For League Success

As a consequence of these results, it is very tight at the summit of the NHL top-tier table with Tipperary, Kilkenny and Galway all on four points each after recording two wins and one defeat to date. 

It should be noted that Cork and Limerick both have a game in hand and are just a point adrift of the aforementioned trio, so these league standings could change very quickly.

Nevertheless, bookmakers have to form a view based on the evidence to date in 2025 and due to the nature of the result and their performance, Limerick are now the favourites for NHL glory in the wake of that win over Tipperary.

The fact that Cork weren’t involved in the recent round of fixtures might help matters, but the Treaty County looked like they meant business last weekend.

Some players will return to the team soon, but ahead of their visit to Kilkenny on February 23, John Kiely’s men are 13/8 with betting apps for a league final victory at the beginning of April.

Cork Firmly In The Reckoning For NHL Glory

Although it will have been three weeks since their last competitive game when they face Tipperary at Semple Stadium on February 22, Cork remain second favourites for a league title triumph – which would be their first in 27 years.

Despite the disappointment of losing out to Clare in last July’s All-Ireland final after extra-time, the Leesiders set out their stall in the opening round of this year’s league by securing a 15-point win against Wexford. 

A knee injury has unfortunately ruled Padraig Power out for the rest of the season – he contributed 1-4 in the Wexford game – but the Rebels showed in their draw with Limerick at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on February 1 that they can mix it with the very best teams in the country.

At 2/1 with 10bet, Pat Ryan’s side remain very strong candidates for a springtime league success.

National Hurling League Odds

Team

Odds

Bookmaker

Limerick

13/8

BoyleSports

Cork

2/1

10bet

Kilkenny

5/1

BoyleSports

Tipperary

7/1

BoyleSports

Galway

9/1

BoyleSports

Clare

12/1

10bet

Wexford

200/1

10bet

Kilkenny And Tipperary Also In The Running

Even though they lost to Galway on their home patch of Nowlan Park in round three, Kilkenny - beaten NHL finalists in the past two years - are still in a very strong position due to wins over Clare and Wexford on either side of the match.

Cian Kenny and Billy Ryan joined the aforementioned duo of Keoghan and Cody in delivering strong performances against the latter. This was a much-needed win ahead of hosting Limerick on Sunday.

While he has won a brace of Leinster senior hurling championship titles since replacing his former manager Brian Cody in the hot seat, Cats boss Derek Lyng could see winning a league title as a confidence boost ahead of the championship. 

As it stands, Boylesports view this prospect as a 5/1 possibility.

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Coming in just behind them at 7/1 are Tipperary, who enjoyed a whirlwind start to the year with back-to-back wins against Galway and Wexford. 

There was certainly no shame in losing to Limerick by four points last weekend, and Seanie Kenneally’s majestic 48th-minute goal lit up the contest and gave the Premier County a fighting chance of success before Limerick ultimately claimed the spoils.

This is a big year for Liam Cahill after a couple of underwhelming championship campaigns and he is clearly doing his utmost to lay the groundwork in the spring for what he hopes will be a profitable summer.

Galway And Clare Given Outside Chances

In the aftermath of a 12-point loss to Tipperary in the opening round of the league at Pearse Stadium, things looked rather bleak for Galway. 

However, the Tribesmen have picked things up considerably over the past fortnight with victories at the expense of Kilkenny and Clare.

It may be dangerous to read too much into either their defeat to Tipp or the wins that followed it, but Micheal Donoghue has had a good look at several players in the early stages of his second term as Galway boss.

He will be hopeful of developing a settled team by the end of their league campaign.

He previously guided them to an NHL title in 2017, and the westerners are currently rated at 9/1 to add to that this year.

Strange as it might seem, Clare, the reigning league and championship winners, are well down the pecking order when it comes to defending their crown. 

This is perhaps understandable when you consider that the Banner lost their opening two games of this year’s league and are still without a number of regular starters.

The inspirational Tony Kelly did appear off the bench against Galway and he will need to be firing on all cylinders if Clare are to pull off another league success from their current position. 

It shouldn’t be completely ruled out of the equation, but their odds of 12/1 ahead of their home outing with Wexford on February 23 suggests there is only an outside chance of this happening.

Avoiding Relegation The Main Aim For Wexford

Realistically, after three straight defeats, Wexford will need to win that game against Clare to have any chance of avoiding relegation to Division 1B of the NHL for 2026.

There were some positives in the second-half performance against Kilkenny last Saturday, but Keith Rossiter’s side had left themselves with far too much to do following a lacklustre opening period. 

They remain without a substantial amount of experience and know-how in their team and are currently rated at 200/1 with GAA betting sites for a shock National Hurling League success.

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