Dublin have the upper hand in the battle for third place in the Leinster SHC, but Shane Dowling says they've little chance of getting a result against Kilkenny on Saturday.
The Boys in Blue beat Wexford last time out to put themselves in pole position for a top-three spot and a place in the All-Ireland Championship next month.
Their form against the Cats has been particularly poor of late though, suffering a 13-point defeat in the Allianz League last year, only to lose by even more in the provincial championships (17 points) in the summer.
They followed it up this spring with another 11-point loss at UPMC Nowlan Park and face a return trip to the Marble City on Saturday evening looking for a first championship victory over Kilkenny in a decade.
If Dublin could pull off that major upset, it would move them on to seven points, which would have been enough to qualify for the provincial final in the previous three years of the round-robin series.
Speaking on RTÉ GAA Podcast however, All-Ireland winner Dowling said that their form so far in 2023 gives him little hope of anything other than a home win this weekend.
"How could anybody see Dublin beating Kilkenny on the back of what we've seen?," he began.
"They were really poor in the league - it is what it is - but last weekend [against Wexford] they were so poor. The one thing we know against Kilkenny is that you won't get time on the ball; the doggedness, the intensity.
"It's impossible to see Dublin getting a result here."
Reflecting on the Dubs' victory over the Yellowbellies, which Dowling called "a big win, not a good win," the former Limerick attacker argued that the Metropolitans lacked intensity and left themselves far too open.
"How in God's name did Dublin leave them get 50
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Shane Dowling