Paul Flynn's football championship predictions

Six big knockout games across the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup this weekend. The latter will take place in Croke Park on Sunday after last week's vote.

I can totally understand the frustration from the hurling fraternity. Obviously, the quarter-finals of the competition is a serious level. I also understand the importance of giving the Tailteann Cup the exposure.

But it was put to a vote and it was hurling counties that seemed to vote against it. So, there can't be too much giving out about it.

That aside, the Tailteann Cup semis are definitely going to be competitive games and it is great that they're going to get the exposure that's needed for these competitions.

Tailteann Cup semi-finals

First up, we've Antrim v Laois.

I think Antrim, after their massive comeback last week and the divisional difference in the spring, will overcome Laois.

In Down versus Sligo, I would tip an upset.

Down are very motivated to win this competition after last year, they're very keen to get back up to Sam Maguire.

But Sligo have been going very well under Tony McEntee. They're very solid defensively and they've been racking up big scores. I would tip an upset there.

All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals

There's three games this weekend that people might think on paper that they're straightforward enough. Galway-Monaghan is one of them.

In the league, Galway had a great win up in Monaghan. They're playing well as a team, they'll be very upset at the outcome after the performance they put in last week against Armagh.

But I think they'll learn from it and dust themselves off and they should overcome Monaghan - a team that we're forever writing off. You wouldn't know what performance you'd get from Monaghan but I think Galway's trajectory is on a