All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-finals: Peter Canavan's predictions

It's quarter-final weekend at Croke Park.

Clare vs Derry, 3:45pm Saturday, live on Sky Sports Arena

I don't expect this to be as high-scoring as Dublin-Cork.

Both teams will be employing blanket defences.

Derry have been playing to a very high standard, they have been ruthless when opportunities to hurt teams present themselves. If they get a scent of a goal, they are not afraid to go for it.

Clare produced a magnificent never-say-die attitude in the last five or 10 minutes against Roscommon to claim the victory. But that shouldn't overshadow a very poor second-half performance from them, after they had been in control at half-time.

That will worry Colm Collins. If they allow Rory Gallagher's side that opportunity to dominate, the Oak Leaf County will make them pay.

To me, there's only one outcome here, and that will be a Derry victory.

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Dublin vs Cork, 6pm Saturday, live on Sky Sports Arena

I expect Dublin to carry on with their impressive form.

I have no doubt Cork will produce a much better performance than we saw against Limerick.

But there are simply too many holes to plug when it comes to this Dublin outfit. Their goals during the Leinster Championship came from opposition kick-outs, their own kick-outs, turnovers, and when they are on song, they will prove very hard to stop.

It will be Dublin with a few points to spare.

Armagh vs Galway, 1:45pm Sunday

This will be a fascinating contest.

There has been a resurgence in Armagh, and there's a really good vibe in the county at the minute.

They have now backed up big performances, so there's an air of confidence.

So much will come down to Armagh's ability to curtail Galway's twin threat up front of Shane Walsh and Damien Comer. Both of them, their potential has never been in doubt. These two men this summer appear to be playing as well as they have ever played. And if the Orchard County can curtail their influence, they have a brilliant chance of winning this game.

What I liked about Armagh is they didn't panic. Once Donegal took the lead, they stuck at it. They got scores from so many aspects of their play, from pushing up on kick-outs, from their own kick-outs, they have set plays with balls going over the top, and they have runners that can come forward from deep, and that includes their goalkeeper.

They have varied their game-plan, there is a kicking element to it, they have a strong running game, and now they appear to be at a stage where there's great belief in how they're playing.

I don't think they'll be overly anxious about Galway's blanket defence, which against both Mayo and Roscommon, the opposition were able to get lots of shots away and penetrate their defence.

So the fact that Kieran McGeeney's side have been playing the competitive games recently, I think it's a distinct advantage to them. And I expect Armagh to win a very competitive game.

Kerry vs Mayo, 4pm Sunday

Kerry have the quality up front to hurt anybody. But the only advantage that Mayo have is that they have been playing competitive games in recent weeks, where Kerry have not. We've witnessed before where teams have exploited that.

But I think the difference in the quality up front, without Tommy Conroy and Ryan O'Donoghue, Mayo are lacking punch and penetration to cause havoc.

In the previous two games, it has been their running power, the likes of Oisin Mullin, Lee Keegan, Eoghan McLaughlin, and Paddy Durcan coming from the half-back line which has resulted in big scores for Mayo.

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I think Kerry will be ready for that and will have a plan in place to counteract it. And they know they have the firepower up front to win.

So Kerry to beat Mayo. But it will be nothing similar to the National League final, which was a non-event.

Watch Clare vs Derry and Dublin vs Cork live on Sky Sports Arena from 3:15pm Saturday.