Dónal Óg Cusack's hurling predictions

The provincial championships continue to gather pace with three games down for decision in Leinster and one in Munster.

RTÉ hurling pundit Dónal Óg Cusack has had his say on Sunday's fixtures.

SUNDAY

Leinster SHC

Galway v Kilkenny, Pearse Stadium, 2pm

Pearse Stadium gives us the chance to see Brian Cody pit his wits against that one extra son that they never had in Henry Shefflin.

Ten All-Ireland medals isn’t a bad start to a manager’s CV but Henry will know that when you’re up against the one fella that claim he taught you most of what you know then all bets are off.

Kilkenny are going for three in a row in Leinster, have got themselves warmed up with games against Westmeath and Laois. We know more about where they are going than we do about Galway.

Galway wilted in a worrying way against Wexford the first day out. We don’t know yet what they learned from that.

Henry is the ninth Galway manager that Brian Cody has faced in his 200-year reign. Some have given him a lot of trouble, others not so much.

For the time being we’re going to assume Cody still knows, and has, a bit more than his best student does.

Verdict: Kilkenny

Westmeath v Dublin, TEG Cusack Park, 3pm

Dublin travel to Westmeath with the happy feeling of having two wins under their belt. Westmeath have the hurling has to be cruel to be kind feeling of having been battered by Kilkenny and Galway in the first two rounds.

Both sides would take encouragement from a single-digit Dublin win.

Verdict: Dublin

Laois v Wexford, O'Moore Park, 2.30pm

Laois were competitive against Dublin in the first round and shipped a bad beating against Kilkenny.

It's a long, long time since they beat Wexford in championship hurling, and going to be still longer when Sunday evening comes around.

Verdict: