Mickey Harte
Former Derry & Tyrone boss on BBC Two NI

It's always been a hallmark of a Jim McGuinness team, the collective is always more important the team. As long as that prevails they will be difficult to break down.

Brendan Devenney
Former Donegal forward on BBC Two NI

Some people have this defensive thing about the Donegal team but it's set up for attack.

Everybody is a ball player and that's where when teams set up the shield around the arc, if you break at pace you're in trouble - as you saw with Meath - because we will destroy you with pace.

But if you hold us up, we've got so many players that can drop it, and really Brendan McCole is the only player that stays.

Everyone else is bombing forward when they can so that's the danger for Kerry. I think the amount of people that can open up a defence in Donegal and score is higher than Kerry's.

Kerry have a couple of superstars in their team so there's a lot of that's going to be left on Clifford's shoulders but there's a wee man McCole for him.

Jim McGuinness is potentially 70 minutes from capping his remarkable comeback as Donegal boss in the grand manner: with another All-Ireland title.

Philly McMahon
Eight-time All-Ireland winner with Dublin on BBC Sport

It is going to come down to how each team can get after the offensive strategy of the other.

Donegal have players that can score from all angles from their running game and ball inside, whilst Kerry have Sean O'Shea as well as David and Paudie Clifford.

It will come down to which team is going to be strong defensively and who is going to win the shootout and for me, it is going to be Donegal.

Donegal captain Patrick McBrearty said it would be a "dream" to lift Sam Maguire, but insists he is not looking past the challenge of Kerry in Sunday's final.

The Kilcar man was an integral part of Donegal's 2012 triumph and was also involved when they fell short in the 2014 final against Kerry.

Donegal have failed to get back to the big day since, but the return of Jim McGuinness for his second stint as manager has injected new life into the county.

During McGuinness' first tenure, Donegal reached an All-Ireland semi-final in his first year and went all the way in his second. While all in Donegal are hoping lightning is about to strike twice following last year's semi-final loss, McBrearty is ignoring the outside noise and focussing only on the 70 minutes ahead.

"It's every young lad's dream but there's a game to be won yet," the 31-year-old said about the prospect of climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand.

"It's a game of football at the end of the day. There's a big circus around the whole thing but we just put our heads down and get ready to go.

"There was a barren period there. We got Jim back there and last year, we lost in the second last hurdle and then last Sunday, we got over that hurdle and are in the big one now."

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Kildare native Brendan Cawley will referee an All-Ireland SFC final for the first time.

He also refereed Donegal's Ulster Championship win against Armagh earlier this year.

Donegal boss Jim McGuinness has made one late change for Sunday's All-Ireland Football final against Kerry as Caolan McGonagle will come into the side in place of Hugh McFadden.

Elsewhere, McGuinness has stuck with the same line-up which started the emphatic semi-final win over Meath a fortnight ago.

Ryan McHugh and Michael Murphy, who both started the 2014 final, are named at right wing-back and full-forward respectively.

Team captain Patrick McBrearty, who came off the bench in the 2014 final, is named among the substitutes again, having been used a second-half impact player in each of Donegal's past four games.

Kerry are unchanged from their semi-final win over Tyrone.

Diarmuid O'Connor has been deemed fit enough to be included in the extended squad, having not featured since the quarter-final stage of the competition.

Tom O'Sullivan is absent because of injury.

Donegal: Shaun Patton; Finnbarr Roarty, Brendan McCole, Peadar Morgan; Ryan McHugh, Eoghan Ban Gallagher, Caolan McColgan; Caolan McGonagle, Michael Langan; Shane O'Donnell, Ciaran Thompson, Ciaran Moore; Conor O'Donnell, Micheal Murphy, Oisin Gallen.

Subs: Gavin Mulreany, Stepehn McMenamin, Odhran McFadden-Ferry, Eoin McHugh, Hugh McFadden, Aaron Doherty, Patrick McBrearty, Jamie Brennan, Niall O'Donnell, Daire O Baoill, Jason McGee

Kerry team: Shane Ryan; Paul Murphy, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Brian O Beaglaoich, Mike Breen, Gavin White, Sean O'Brien, Mark O'Shea; Joe O'Connor, Sean O'Shea , Graham O'Sullivan; David Clifford, Paudie Clifford, Dylan Geaney.

Subs: Shane Murphy, Killian Spillane, Evan Looney, Tom Leo O'Sullivan, Tadhg Morley, Paul Geaney, Miceal Burns, Tony Brosnan, Armin Heinrich, Tomas Kennedy, Diarmuid O'Connor.

Image source, BBC Sport

Oisin McConville
Armagh All-Ireland winner on BBC Sport

After a lot of football played this year, I think we have got to the stage where people thought we might end up.

Kerry were very impressive against Tyrone and Donegal blew Meath away. The two best teams in the country are in the final, that goes without saying.

There is so much to like about both teams and there are so many potential scorers for both teams. There is massive reliance on David Clifford in that Kerry full-forward line.

Donegal have scores absolutely everywhere, they are a well-oiled machine, their bench looks really strong and they might just be able to pip this.

Ryan McHugh says emulating his successful family members is not a primary motivation for this weekend's All-Ireland football final against Kerry.

McHugh's dad, Martin, and uncle, James, were key figures in Donegal's maiden All-Ireland win in 1992, while older brother Mark played when Sam Maguire returned to the hills in 2012.

Ryan joined Mark on the team that reached the 2014 final against Kerry but fell short and, although his older brother has progressed on to coaching, the younger of the Kilcar brothers is still a mainstay in the green and gold.

Although he would dearly love to get his own Celtic Cross this weekend, his desire to succeed is fuelled by a motivation to reach the top and banish the memories of the disappointing days since.

"I haven't got one yet, but it's nothing I think of," the 31-year-old told BBC Sport NI.

"Mark and dad had phenomenal careers for Donegal. Would I love an All-Ireland medal? Of course I would. It's over to me now to do that, but it's not something I think of that I have to get one because they did.

"I'm blessed to have been born at a time where Donegal have been in All-Ireland finals. As a supporter in 2012 and with Mark playing, it was unbelievable for the family.

"Then in '14 with myself involved, it was massive for the family and for Donegal. It was disappointing in '14, but hopefully we can put that right this time."

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Stardom and the pressure to deliver can make or break a player, but temperament must compliment talent - and David Clifford is lacking in neither area.

The 26-year-old - who bids for his second All-Ireland senior title on Sunday when Kerry take on Donegal - was once described as Gaelic football's answer to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Johnny Sexton.

Hyperbole or a fitting comparison?

As a teenager, Clifford was marked for stardom.

His tally of 2-5 helped St Brendan's College to the 2016 Hogan Cup (All-Ireland schools) title and he found the net later that year in the All-Ireland minor final as Kerry beat Galway.

However, it was in the following year's minor final when a remarkable haul of 4-4 in victory over Derry made the wider sporting public sit up and take notice.

"I was at that game and you were thinking, 'no minor can deliver under that pressure', but he did at 17," Dara O Cinneide, a three-time All-Ireland winner with Kerry, told BBC Sport NI.

"The year before when they beat Galway he produced exceptional stuff. Sean Mulkerrin marked him well, but 50 minutes in, he goes on a crazy solo run and puts the ball into the top corner - one of his quieter games that year."

Read the full feature here, external

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Keep an eye on our star-studded Line-up of Duty on BBC coverage today...

The encounters between these two sides through the years have always been fiercely contested and tight to call.

The most recent meeting came in the Allianz Football League earlier this year, with Donegal claiming their first win on Kerry soil in 37 years.

It was a tight game with Donegal triumphing 0-23 to 1-18 at the Fitzgerald Stadium in February.

They played out an enthralling 1-20 to 1-20 draw in the old Super 8s format of the All-Irelands in 2019, with the sides level on 14 occasions throughout the game.

As aforementioned, these two sides met in the 2014 All-Ireland final, which Kerry narrowly won 2-9 to 0-12.

Goals from Paul Geaney and Kieran Donaghy helped Kerry to lead by three in the closing stages, but Donegal were close to forcing a replay as Colm McFadden hit the post in injury-time as the Kingdom held on.

Donegal had beaten Kerry at the quarter-final stage on their way to winning the Sam Maguire in 2012.

McFadden hit 1-6 as they managed to hold off a late Kerry comeback to win 1-12 to 1-10 in Dublin and eventually go on to claim Sam, beating Mayo in the decider.

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Kerry manager Jack O'Connor is expecting "a ferocious challenge" from Donegal in Sunday's All-Ireland football final.

O'Connor is bidding to lead The Kingdom to Sam Maguire for a fifth time in his third spell as boss of his native county.

On each of the previous four occasions, Kerry have also won the league and yet again, they are bidding for the double having accounted for Mayo in the Division One final in late March.

Earlier in that campaign, Kerry fell two a two-point defeat to Donegal in Killarney but it's now when teams are hitting their peak and O'Connor has been impressed with how the Tir Chonaill men have raised the bar throughout the summer.

"They seem to be peaking at the right time and have a lot of weapons all over the field," he said.

"We're expecting a huge challenge and it will take a massive performance from us to get the job done.

"They have a lot of threats, something like 13 different scorers against Meath. We won't be zooming in on any individuals. It's their collective and the fact they can hurt you from so many different areas is their strength."

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Donegal manager Jim McGuinness said the ghosts of 2014 haunted him for a long time but are now at the back of his mind as his team prepare to face Kerry in Sunday's All-Ireland football final.

The Kingdom won by three points in the 2014 decider, which proved to be the Glenties man's last game in charge, but 10 years later he returned to the Donegal sideline after moving into soccer with Celtic before spells in China and the United States.

However, home is where the heart is and the opportunity to manage Donegal for a second time proved too good to turn down.

Making up for that 2014 loss may have been part of the motivation, but now back in the job, it's all about what's ahead, rather than what has been and gone.

"Your heart is always in your county so when the opportunity came and the conversations came up about coming back, they take legs in your mind," he told BBC Sport NI.

"I'm delighted we had those conversations and got back on the horse, so hopefully we can give it our best shot.

"The 2014 final was stuck in my head a long time, probably up until the point I came back in. You're always thinking about that, but as a manager, a coach or a player, the two weeks' [build-up to the final] is not a time for reflection. The time for reflection is when the final whistle goes."

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Ruairi Cunningham
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

Image source, BBC Sport

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Will Jim McGuinness and Donegal be in the fast lane to Sam today?

The All-Ireland final will be shown live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Coverage of the match will commence at 15:00 BST, with Sarah Mulkerrins presenting and throw-in set for 15:30.

Our stellar panel will feature three-time All-Star Conor McManus, 2002 All-Ireland winner Oisin McConville and Philly McMahon, an eight-time All-Ireland winner with Dublin.

Mark Sidebottom will have Donegal legend Brendan Devenney and Tyrone three-time All-Ireland winner Owen Mulligan for company at pitchside with Thomas Niblock will provide commentary alongside the legendary Mickey Harte, who lifted Sam three times as Tyrone boss.

The BBC Sport website will provide live text commentary, in-play clips, a match report, highlights and reaction.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Croke Park

The teams are wearing their changed strips, of course, but there's none of that in the stands. Green and gold everywhere you look.

The Donegal fans trickling through the turnstiles were hit with an unwanted memory earlier on when they walked into the stadium to see the 2014 final highlights playing on the two big screens.

Nobody from Donegal wants to remember that.

The two sets of players were out earlier for a stroll across the pitch, which has generated a fair bit of chat in the media area (see the 14:36 entry).

It's probably less striking at pitch level, in fairness (we're on level seven).

In the round robin stage, Kerry enjoyed wins against Roscommon and Cork but suffered a shock 11-point loss against Meath.

As a result, they had to go through a preliminary quarter-final, but the Kingdom recovered to beat Cavan 3-20 to 1-17 with the imperious David Clifford netting a hat-trick.

They then produced a superb second-half display to beat reigning champions Armagh 0-32 to 1-21 in the last eight.

Trailing by five at the break, Kerry devoured Armagh's kick-outs and blasted over 14 unanswered points in a devastating 13-minute spell to canter towards the semi-finals.

Jack O'Connor's side enjoyed a comfortable 1-20 to 0-17 semi-final win against Tyrone, with David Clifford again delivering a stellar performance.

He registered 1-9 as Kerry, as they did against Armagh, dominated the third quarter, hitting nine points without reply to seal a place in the final.

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