Peter Canavan highlights the three Dublin players Mayo must stifle in the All-Ireland final

For Dublin, Saturday evening is all about maintaining their high standards on Saturday evening.

Their performances so far this year have been characterised by a remarkable level of consistency. In each of the games they have played, their kick-passing, hand-passing, scoring - the basic skills have been performed to a very high level.

From that point of view, Dessie Farrell will certainly want to replicate it.

An All-Ireland final like no other

The expectation, the buzz, the noise is not going to be there. So it's going to be an All-Ireland final like never before, devoid of atmosphere. It's in the middle of December, which has never happened before. There will be a lot of firsts on Saturday, which is all to Mayo's advantage.

But the grass is still green. The posts are still white. The ball is still round.

Limerick proved last week in the hurling final that if the favourites are fully focused and tuned in, the rest of the above doesn't matter.

If Dublin perform to their potential, it's going to be hard to see anything other than a Dublin victory.

Break down the 15 positions in the field and compare like-with-like; Stephen Cluxton vs David Clarke, Michael Fitzsimons vs Oisin Mullen, etc. Go through all 15 positions and pick which player you would like. Most would select at least nine or 10 Dublin players.

A lot of things are going to have to go Mayo's way if they are going to come out on top. But they have put it up to Dublin before, so you have to respect them.

Dublin's danger men

The three men down the middle are crucial: Brian Fenton, Ciarán Kilkenny and Con O'Callaghan.

Kilkenny and O'Callaghan have been rotating positions this season. Both can play 11 and 14. Kilkenny has been more direct this year than ever before. He is very keen to hurt teams on the score-board, not just content to be the link-man. The switch that Dessie Farrell has made has really paid dividends. The fact that O'Callaghan is so adept at coming out, reading the kick-outs and winning primary possession, it has been a huge help to Dublin.

In terms of Mayo stopping Dublin, I presume it will be Matthew Ruane on Fenton. I would expect Chris Barrett to pick up whichever one of Kilkenny or O'Callaghan goes closer to goal. And Stephen Coen will likely man-mark the other.

Those two players would be happy to sacrifice their own game, as long as they stifle Kilkenny and O'Callaghan.

It will then be up to Lee Keegan, Eoghan McLaughlin and Paddy Durcan to get on the ball and move it forward from the back.

Fenton on fire

The Raheny midfielder is in the mix to be named Footballer of the Year. When he plays well, Dublin play well.

During open play, Fenton has a habit of ghosting into good positions, and can hurt the opposition. Not only has he been scoring heavily himself, but he has also been setting up both points and goals.

But it's important to note that it is possible to stem his influence. Mayo will look to last year's drawn game against Kerry, when he was kept quiet. Yes, Fenton will get on a certain amount of ball, that's inevitable, but it's trying to limit his time on the ball. He had 31 possessions against Cavan. Mayo will likely need to decrease that number to 20.

I would imagine Ruane would be the man that James Horan has in mind for the job. Ruane has got the mobility to stay with Fenton. But in the air, he could have difficulty competing. But he will be doing his best to stop the four-time All-Star securing clean possession, and will attempt to break the ball down.

Ruane will have one of the biggest jobs that any Mayo player has to undertake on Sunday.

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Six-in-a-row looks likely

The danger from a Dublin point of view is everybody expects them to win. When that happens, complacency can be a problem for normal teams. But from what we have seen to date from this Dublin side, there is no evidence they do complacency.

I fancy Dublin strongly. They will feel they have not performed in a lot of All-Ireland finals to their full potential. I think that is the challenge that Dessie Farrell is going to set for his team.

As much as Mayo will have so much neutral support around the country, and will put in a monumental effort, the facts and the stats indicate if Dublin perform, they will win with something to spare.

Watch Dublin vs Mayo in the All-Ireland final live on Sky Sports Mix from 4pm Saturday.