Kilkenny emerged unscathed from last Saturday's semi-final replay victory over Galway and they have now set their sights on reclaiming the Bob O'Keeffe trophy.

The Cats have gone two years without a Leinster victory which constitutes a famine by their illustrious history.

It goes without saying that Brian Cody is expecting Anthony Daly and Dublin to provide stiff resistance.

"Dublin are a top-class team," he said this week. "They are Leinster champions. They barely missed out on qualifying for the All-Ireland final last year. We want to win the Leinster championship. It's as simple as that."

Daly and his players wrote their own piece of Dublin GAA history 12 months ago when getting the better of Galway to bridge a 52-year gap to their last provincial hurling success.

They coped well with the pressure of being defending champions against Wexford in their last four clash, which they won on a scoreline of 0-22 to 1-14, but Kilkenny represent a different proposition altogether.

Danny Sutcliffe's return to fitness is a big boost to the metropolitan's chances of repeating their semi-final replay victory of 2013.

On the other side of the coin, the team in black and amber will be eager to set the record straight and they get the vote to shade what should be an entertaining encounter.

Verdict - Kilkenny.

Dublin team: Alan Nolan; Shane Durkin, Peter Kelly, Paul Schutte; Stephen Hiney, Liam Rushe, Mikey Carton; Joey Boland, Johnny McCaffrey; Ryan O'Dwyer, Alan McCrabbe, Danny Sutcliffe; Dotsy O'Callaghan, Conal Keaney, Colm Cronin.

Kilkenny team: David Herity; Paul Murphy, JJ Delaney, Jackie Tyrrell; Joey Holden, Brian Hogan, Cillian Buckley; Richie Hogan, Conor Fogarty; Walter Walsh, Padraig Walsh, TJ Reid; Colin Fennelly, Eoin Larkin, John Power.

Match details: Sunday, Croke Park, 4pm.

Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath).

Odds: Dublin 15/8, Draw 10/1, Kilkenny 1/2. Tweet

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