2022 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: Prediction for Kilkenny v Clare (Semi-Final)

We are now at the business end of the 2022 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, and the first Semi-Final of this prestigious competition will see Kilkenny take on Clare for the right to compete in the final for the coveted All-Ireland HSC trophy. We think that this will be a great match to watch, even if you are not a fan of either of these teams, and below we have provided you with our prediction as to who will go on and win this match and book themselves a spot in the final.

📆 Kilkenny v Clare Match Information

Below we are going to provide you with some very useful information about this Semi-Final clash between Kilkenny and Clare. You are not obliged to, but we do recommend that you take a note of this information or at least take a photo of it on your phone so that you do not miss any of the action.

Venue: Croke Park

Date: 2nd July

Time: 17:30

If you are a fan of hurling and are going to be in Dublin over that weekend, then we recommend that you try and pick up a ticket for the match. Even if you cannot get a ticket because they have all sold out, you should definitely head to Croke Park and soak up the amazing atmosphere.

🏐 Kilkenny and Clare Recent Performances

When you are thinking about placing a bet on a team to win a match, whatever the sport is that you are considering gambling on, it is wise for you to take a look at how the two teams have been playing as of late. Why do we say this? Well, obviously, if a side that has been out of form lately is going to be taking on a team that has been very much in form, then it should be pretty obvious, even to a novice gambler, that you should not bet on the team out of form.

Yes, we know that there is no guarantee that the team that is out of form will go on to lose the match, but form is something that you should consider when you are betting on sports like hurling. Therefore, with this in mind, we are now going to take a look at how Kilkenny and Clare have been playing as of late.

Kilkenny play in the Leinster Senior Championship, and they finished second in table to book themselves a spot in the 2022 Leinster final, where they went on to beat Galway by five points and claim their 74th title. They have now won this competition for the last three years in a row, and since the turn of the century, there have only been five editions that they have not won.

So, lets look at how they performed in the Round Robin part of the 2022 Leinster SHC, shall we? Well, there first match was against Westmeath, and they put their opponents to the sword by beating them by 16 points. Their second match of the competition was against Laois, and they beat them by a staggering 23 points. In the third round, they took on Galway, and lost a really close match by just one point, before going on to beat Dublin by 17 points and losing to Wexford by four points.

Since they won the 2022 Leinster SHC, they got a bye into the Semi-Finals of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, while Galway had to settle for a place in the Quarter-Finals.

So, as you can see from the above, when Kilkenny play to the best of their ability, then there are not many hurling teams that can manage to cope with them. Once they get on a bit of a roll, they are really hard to stop. When it comes to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, they are the most successful team in the competition, having won the title no fewer than 36 times. Therefore, with the form that they are in and their overall history in the All-Ireland SHC, they will be confident of going on to lift the title.

Clare compete in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship, and they finished at the top of the Round Robin table in the 2022 edition with seven points from the four matches that they played in. They took on Limerick in the final, and lost the match on penalties - this was actually the first time ever that a GAA Championship match was won on penalties, although they were only recently introduced as a tie-breaker.

This was a devastating loss for Clare because it would have been the first time that they lifted the Munster SHC title since 1998. They have only won the competition six times, and they will never get so close again without actually going on to win it. However, it was no shame to lose to Limerick since they have been the dominant team in Munster in recent years, winning the title for the last four years in a row.

Clare's first match of the 2022 Munster SHC was against Tipperary, and they won the game by three points. They then took on Cork in their second match, and managed to win the match with two points to spare, while they drew with Limerick in their third match, and then beat Waterford by a comfortable 12 points in their last game to book themselves a spot in the final.

Since they lost in the final, they got a bye into the Quarter-Finals of the All-Ireland SHC, where they took on Wexford. This was a very close game, and Clare showed some of their class to come out on top by four points.

So, as can be seen from what we have mentioned above, Clare have been playing some decent hurling as of late, and if they play to the best of their ability, then they can be a match for even the best sides - as they showed by drawing with Limerick twice, losing the final only on penalties. With regard to the All-Ireland SHC, they have not been as successful as Kilkenny, since they have only won it four times, with their last win coming back in 2013.

How have recent matches between Kilkenny and Clare played out? Well, this is quite an irregular fixture due to the fact that both sides play in different provinces, but when they do meet, it is usually a pretty entertaining fixture. They have played against each other seven times, and Kilkenny are leading the way with five wins to their name. This is something that you should keep in mind when you are thinking about who you would like to bet on.

💯 Kilkenny vs Clare Odds

Sometimes it is not easy to find good odds for a hurling match because many sports betting sites only offer outright markets for it because it is not a hugely popular sport outside of the Emerald Isle. However, we never like to let any of our readers down, which is the reason why we put in plenty of effort to find some top sportsbooks that you can always count on when it comes to match odds for hurling, and below you can see the odds that they are offering for this Semi-Final clash between Kilkenny and Clare.

Team
Kilkenny	2.37	1.80	2.50	2.50	2.50	2.25
Clare	1.72	2.25	1.73	1.73	1.73	1.80

So, as can be seen from the above table, most of the top bookies have Clare as the slight favourites to go on and win this match. This is somewhat surprising considering Kilkenny's strength and their history in this competition, but we guess these bookies are basing their odds on Clare's strong performances against the likes of Limerick.

📊 Odds of Kilkenny and Clare Winning the Title

Above we gave you the odds that the top sports betting sites are offering for Kilkenny and Clare to win this Semi-Final match, but you might also feel like making an outright bet as well. If you are new to sports betting, then an outside wager is one where you are putting your money on a team to go on and lift the title, which will be the All-Ireland SHC in this case.

Below you can see another table, but the odds that are on offer in this one are the odds that the top sportsbooks are offering for Kilkenny and Clare to will the All-Ireland SHC.

Team
Kilkenny	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00	7.00
Clare	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00

So, as you can see from the table above, the sports betting sites have Clare at having a slightly better chance of going on to lift the All-Ireland SHC title. This should not come as much of a surprise, since they all mostly tip Clare to win the Semi-Final match and book themselves a spot in the final. However, they all have Limerick as the out and out favourites to go on and win the title - the above bookies are offering odds of 1.50 for this to happen.

🎁 Free Bet Offers for Betting on Kilkenny v Clare

If you have never bet on hurling matches before because you have yet to open an account with a sports betting site, then the next table is one that you are certainly going to want to pay very close attention to. In this table, you will see the top free bet offers that some of the best bookies around are currently offering to any new Irish punter that decides to open an account with them. You can use the following free bets on the Semi-Final between Kilkenny and Clare, or on any other hurling match that you would like to bet on. Obviously, you will also be able to use these offers on other sports.

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Before you jump in and claim a welcome offer or any other type of bonus that is available, you have to take some time to check out the different T&Cs that apply. You will not encounter a bonus in the world of gambling that does not come with terms and conditions because bookmakers will obviously not be okay with handing out free money to their punters. While such a scenario would be great for us, it would put the bookmaker out of business. If you do not bother to read the terms that apply, then you could end up making an error that will see your bonus forfeited.

Also, when you are betting on sporting events, you have to remember to gamble responsibly. To make sure that this is the case, we suggest that you create a budget that you feel you can afford to lose should your luck desert you, and stick to it without fail. If you do lose your budgeted money, then stop gambling right away, and occupy yourself with anything else that you enjoy doing.

One other thing that we want to point out is that bonuses are changing regularly because bookmakers are always looking for ways to ensure that things stay nice and fresh. Thus, there is a slight chance that the offers that we just mentioned in the table above will not be the ones on offer if/when you decide to open an account with them. If this happens to you, then we apologise for any inconvenience, but we are pretty certain that the new bonus on offer will be as good or even better. At the end of the day, and online betting site is not going to make their bonus worse since this would end up being detrimental to them.

🏆 Our Kilkenny v Clare Match Prediction

So, who do we feel will go ahead and win this Semi-Final match and book themselves a spot in the final? Well, both of these teams will believe that they have the quality to go on and win this match, and Clare will probably be buoyed by the fact that the bookies have them as the favourites to win. However, we are going to go against the bookmakers here and put our money on Kilkenny coming out on top. We just think that they are slightly better than Clare and that their success in this tournament will help see them over the line.