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Kerry play their first championship match of the 2018 campaign today but, for supporters at least, all eyes are already on Dublin. Mapping out your team’s route to the final is always good craic, especially this year with the new Super 8 format, and it all looks so straightforward for Kerry on paper.

Beat Clare. Beat Cork in the Munster Final. Beat the Connacht champions (probably Galway) in the first game of the group phase. Beat the other two teams. Beat the second place team from the other group in the semis. And then, another crack at the Dubs. Easy.

Assuming Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s new-look team do run the gauntlet, what are their chances of stopping the Dubs’ quest for four-in-a-row? If you just look at the forwards he has at his disposal, you’d have to say Kerry have a shot.

James O’Donoghue, Paul Geaney, David Clifford, Seán O’Shea, Micheál Burns, Daithí Casey, Kevin McCarthy, Kieran Donaghy, Darran O’Sullivan, Donnchadh Walsh, Stephen O’Brien, Barry John Keane… When you think about it, all of them would start for the vast majority of the 33 teams in this year’s championship but six of them won’t start for Kerry. And those are just the first 12 who come to mind. There are others.

There are rumours that Fitzmaurice could opt for a full forward line of Geaney, O’Donoghue and Clifford. Good luck to any full back line tasked with keeping that trio quiet for 70 minutes.

There are some question marks over Kerry’s inexperienced defenders, especially considering how devastating Dublin are in attack, but by the time September comes around they will hopefully have six championship games under their belts. As good as Dublin are, they might not look quite as daunting to the new players by then.

But first things first. Clare today in Killarney. The Banner have only defeated Kerry in the championship once in the last 68 years (1992). They’re a lot better at the moment than that statistic might suggest but Kerry’s first step in the 2018 championship should be fairly straightforward.

Prediction: Kerry by nine.