The race for the Bob O'Keeffe Cup heats up this weekend with the Leinster senior hurling championship quarter-finals taking place and here we make our predictions from the last eight onwards.

With four-in-a-row chasing Kilkenny already seeded into next month's semi-finals, joint favourites Galway return to competitive action for the first time since their crushing 16-point win over Tipperary in the Division 1 league final of four weeks ago.

The Tribesmen head for Tullamore this Sunday as 2/9 favourites to send Ger Cunningham's Dublin (4/1) into the qualifiers and the formbook suggests that they're going to keep things to script this weekend.

A win would pit Micheál Donoghue's charges against either Westmeath or Offaly in the last four, with that derby set to take place in Mullingar on Saturday. The Lake County came through the province's round-robin series thanks to a two-point win over Meath in final round and should provide their neighbours with a tough test on their home turf.

On the other side, Laois, who won all three of their round-robin outings, have been handed a much stiffer assignment against Davy Fitzgerald's Wexford side this coming Sunday. Home advantage will be welcomed by the O'Moore men but it's hard to envisage them upsetting the Slayneysiders even with the fine early championship form of Eamonn Kelly's men.

Kilkenny face this weekend's winners in Portlaoise on June 10th and should the Model men avoid an upset then it could potentially be another cracker between Brian Cody's side and the Model men when they Cats enter the fray in pursuit of their 78th Liam McCarthy Cup.

The bookmakers predict that the winners from that semi-final will be facing Galway in the final on July 2nd at Croke Park, where the seemingly simpler route could suit the men from the west to repeat their feat of 2012.

Predictions:

Champions: Galway  

Runners-up: Kilkenny

Odds (supplied by Ladbrokes): Galway 5/4; Kilkenny 5/4; Wexford 7/1; Dublin 9/1; Offaly 50/1; Laois 150/1; Westmeath 350/1

Fixtures:

May 27: Quarter-final: Westmeath v Offaly, Cusack Park

May 28: Quarter-finals: Laois v Wexford, O'Moore Park; Galway v Dublin, O'Connor Park

June 10: Semi-final: Kilkenny v Laois/Wexford

June 18: Semi-final: Galway/Dublin v Westmeath/Offaly

July 2: Final: Kilkenny/Laois/Wexford v Galway/Dublin/Westmeath/Offaly, Croke Park

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