The Galway hurlers are away to Kilkenny on Sunday in round three of the National Hurling League when they face the All-Ireland champions in Nowlan Park at 2pm.
The Cats produced an impressive 2-17 to 0-18 victory over Tipperary in their last league game, showing their customary ruthlessness when two late goals from Kevin Kelly sealed that win.
The Tipperary men had led for most of the game and were a score ahead with only three minutes to go when Kelly pounced.
Former hurler of the year TJ Reid was their other main scorer with 10 points and wing-forward James Maher hit 0-4 from play in an accomplished performance.
Tipperary are on a rotten run of form against Kilkenny, and have only beaten them twice in 11 games since the 2010 All-Ireland final. Galway, along with almost every other side in the country, have also struggled with Kilkenny, apart from that famous Leinster final win in 2012.
Micheal Donoghue's side is 15/8 outsiders to get an away win this weekend and the home side is 2/1 favourites.
Galway looked disjointed in their loss to Dublin, especially in the second half, and they will need to up the ante to get anything from this tough assignment.
The hurlers have Tipperary at home to come next weekend and then Waterford away (March 20 ), so unless a win or two can be garnered in the next two rounds, they could find themselves in relegation trouble heading to Walsh Park in round five of the league. That is a situation to be avoided.
