All-Ireland Football Final: How Tyrone and Mayo will match up - Oisin McConville

Anybody trying to get a tactical handle on Saturday's All-Ireland Football Final is going to be very busy right from the off as the all-important match-ups are worked out.

Mayo manager James Horan absolutely loves his match-ups. He would be happy to have all six of his defenders ticked off against members of the opposition but of course in the fluid modern game, that's rarely possible as players wander all over the field.

But while it's going to be very difficult to cover all bases when assessing the tactics of the decider, we can have a reasonable stab at some of the individual battles likely to unfold.

'O'Shea's chance to answer detractors'

Aidan O'Shea will surely be involved in the action from the very first moment as he and Diarmuid O'Connor invariably contest the throw-ins even though I would argue that Matthew Ruane is very good in the air.

After that initial salvo, I would expect O'Shea to remain at midfield to be pitted in a probable battle with Brian Kennedy rather than spending the bulk of his time at full-forward as he did - rather unprofitably - against Dublin before he was substituted early in the second half.

There will always be the option of putting O'Shea inside if things aren't going particularly well. He got a lot of stick for his performance at full-forward against Dublin but actually his ball-winning that day was quite productive even though that was totally undone by errant shooting and poor decision-making.

Don't forget that O'Shea's devastating six or seven minutes of play after half-time in the Connacht Final turned that game in Mayo's favour after Galway had looked in total control.

Granted he had a bad day against the Dubs but it's not a case that the big man's form has been poor throughout the championship.

However, this is probably the biggest challenge he's faced in an All-Ireland Final which is saying something given the number of deciders he has been involved in, and with most of them having been against Dublin.

Conor Meyler and Kieran McGeary have been outstanding in Tyrone's engine room so far this season

Meyler and McGeary Tyrone's key men

If you look at Tyrone's march to the decider, you have to say all-action duo Conor Meyler and Kieran McGeary have been their most influential players.

Both those men have been vying for man of the match in every single game which is a level of consistency you don't usually see in the modern game because in-form players will invariably be tightly marked or even double marked the next day after producing big performances.

As far back as the Donegal game, Meyler went on Ryan McHugh and blotted him out of the game. He did the same on Paudie Clifford and did a good job on Ryan McAnespie in the Ulster Final as well.

In many ways, Meyler's performances have encapsulated the Tyrone method which has been to dictate the match-ups.

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On Saturday, I wouldn't be surprised to see Meyler attempting to take on Paddy Durcan and thereby curb the half-back's regular forays forward.

But Mayo may not want to play ball with that and it could all get rather congested a la an All-Ireland Hurling Final of a few years ago when you saw Tipperary's main marksmen Lar Corbett deployed as a marker on Tommy Walsh, when Kilkenny in turn had someone shadowing Corbett.

In that case, it becomes a battle of wills.

Alternatively, Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan could ask Michael O'Neill, who is usually named at number 11 but never plays there, to shadow Durcan.

Enda Hession's introduction late in the first half helped Mayo fight back to beat seven-in-a-row seeking Dublin

Hession should start for Mayo

In terms of James Horan's team selection, I believe he has to use Enda Hession from the start after he was introduced late in the first half to such good effect against the Dubs.

Corner-back Oisin Mullin's return to fitness after missing the Dublin game could prove vital for the Connacht champions with his pace - like Hession's - also offering Horan additional attacking potential.

Mullin also very rarely coughs up possession in contrast to the criminal way Kerry did in the semi-final.

On the minus side, Eoghan McLaughlin's knock to the head against the Dubs puts his participation in doubt and his absence would be a loss for Mayo.

Mullin being stationed quite far away from his own goal for much of the contest in his likely duel with Conor McKenna could work to Mayo's advantage in that he can quickly bomb forward in a similar fashion to Hession and McLaughlin, if indeed the latter is deemed fit to start.

Mayo will need to rely on their pace and the opportunities they can create with overlap runners to ensure they don't run into traffic the way that Kerry did against the Red Hands.

Oisin McConville says Tyrone will win if Darren McCurry hits form

McCurry to have 'massive say' in outcome

While much attention is focused on the mountain of work that the likes of Meyler and McGeary get through in the engine room, the scores still need to be kicked and if Tyrone do win their first All-Ireland title in 13 years I expect Darren McCurry to have played a pivotal role.

If he kicks seven, eight, nine points that's the avenue for Tyrone to win the game. He has that in the locker and that part of their game has improved dramatically since his return to the squad.

At the other end of the pitch, it's about Tyrone's collective. How much they can frustrate Mayo, particularly in the first 30 minutes of the game.

Put it this way, if Mayo start this game they way they have their last two, Tyrone will get four or five or six points up and just won't let James Horan's side back into it.

In that scenario, Tyrone will flood the defence in the second half and play on the break and will probably only need to kick four or five more points to be able to keep Mayo at arm's length.

Mayo have to be in touch at half-time and to that end they will hope pressurising Niall Morgan's kickouts - as Kerry actually did to good effect for much of the semi-final before strangely changing tactics after David Moran's injury - will work for them.

The one thing Mayo have never done is sit off the opposition's kickouts so Morgan will be under pressure again after losing eight out of 14 the last day when he went long.