James Knowles’ Predictions for Upcoming Irish Premiership Matches

James Knowles offers his insights and predictions for several Irish Premiership fixtures. For the Cliftonville v Glentoran match on Saturday at 15:00 GMT, with coverage on Sportsound via BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Ulster, Knowles notes that Cliftonville will be “very disappointed after their defeat to Portadown” and will have “a few key players suspended for this game.” Despite Glentoran being “in a very rich vein of form,” he expects Cliftonville to “bounce back” at home. He anticipates “A very tight game with hopefully plenty of goals, possibly a late winner,” predicting a 3-2 scoreline. Regarding Linfield v Glenavon, also on Saturday at 15:00 GMT with Sportsound coverage, Knowles observes that “Paddy McLaughlin’s team are coming off the back of a great win at home against Crusaders.” He states that “all the pressure will be on Linfield just like any other week.” Nonetheless, he believes “Linfield at home will just have a little too much in attacking areas for Glenavon to cope with,” forecasting a 3-1 result. The Loughgall v Ballymena United fixture, scheduled for Saturday at 15:00 GMT and broadcast on Sportsound, features “two very hard working teams that both need to bounce back after defeats.” Knowles finds the outcome difficult to call, stating, “I think it could go either way so I’ll have to sit on the fence for this one,” and predicts a 1-1 draw. In the Portadown v Crusaders game, taking place on Saturday at 15:00 GMT with Sportsound coverage, Knowles highlights that “Portadown are absolutely flying at the minute and are sitting nicely in the league so their confidence will be very high.” He points out that “Declan Caddell’s team” (Crusaders) “haven’t been able to capitalise in their last two games after taking the lead in each.” While acknowledging “another tight encounter which could go either way,” he predicts “Crusaders to hold out this time,” with a 1-2 score. Looking ahead to Monday’s Dungannon Swifts v Larne match at 19:45 GMT, also covered by Sportsound, Knowles describes it as “Another very tough game at home to the champions.” He conveys the sentiment, “We were all very disappointed not to take anything from the game midweek against Linfield but going into this one will challenge ourselves again to compete against the best.” No specific prediction is provided for this fixture, with a note stating, “(We’ll let James off with this one!)”. Listeners are invited to join James with Michael McNamee on Sportsound this week from 14:00 GMT on Saturday for the latest updates from the Irish Premiership. The broadcast will be available on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Sounds, and the BBC Sport website.