Tyrone have already lost one big game against Armagh in the Athletic Grounds this season.
Should they lose again on Sunday, it will mark their defence of their All-Ireland title in four attempts after they lost out to Laois in the second round of the Qualifiers in 2006.
The Orchard County won’t need an extra incentive to defeat their arch rivals.
Read more: Armagh vs Tyrone: TV and live streaming info for Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC Qualifier
Yet, Kieran McGeeney is also under pressure to get a result as Armagh have failed to reach the Ulster final in each of his eight years in charge.
Retaining their Division One status and knocking Tyrone out of the All-Ireland Championship would be a decent consolation.
However, ‘Geezer’ has a number of injury concerns with Niall Grimley, Tiernan Kelly and Ciaran Mackin all sidelined for the rest of the year.
Tyrone are also without All-Star midfielder Brian Kennedy following his red card in the 11-point defeat to Derry last month.
Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher have called up Ruairi Canavan, Niall Devlin, Steve Donaghy and Michael McGleenan from the All-Ireland-winning U20 side and it will be interesting to see if any of them feature against Armagh on Sunday.
This promises to be another intriguing contest between the Ulster heavyweights and we take a closer look at the key battles which could decide the outcome on Sunday.
Possible line-outs:
Armagh
1. Ethan Rafferty
2. James Morgan 3. Aidan Forker 4. Aaron McKay
5. Greg McCabe 6. Niall Rowland 7. Jarly Óg Burns
8. Connaire Mackin 9. Ben Crealey
10. Jemar Hall 11. Rory Grugan 12. Oisin O’Neill
13 Aidan Nugent 14. Rian O’Neill 15. Conor Turbitt
Tyrone
1. Niall Morgan
2. Michael McKernan 3. Ronan McNamee 4. Padraig Hampsey
5. Kieran McGeary 6. Frank Burns 7. Peter Harte
8. Conn Kilpatrick 9. Mattie Donnellly
10. Conor Meyler 11. Conor McKenna 12. Niall Sludden
13. Darren McCurry 14. Cathal McShane 15 Darragh Canavan
Key battles
Conor Meyler (Tyrone) v Jarly Óg Burns (Armagh)
Tyrone need to put Armagh on the backfoot from the start. Jarly Óg Burns is the instigator of so many of their attacks and is a superb ball-carrier.
Conor Meyler has been asked to sacrifice his own game for the greater good before, most notably in the All-Ireland semi-final last year when he nullified the threat of Paudie Clifford.
Getting the Omagh man to shadow Burns could help limit his influence on the game.
Greg McCabe (Armagh) v Peter Harte (Tyrone)
Should Tyrone opt to man-mark Burns, Armagh might deploy a similar tactic on Peter Harte.
Like Burns, Harte’s driving runs from deep often lead to scores or frees for the Red Hands.
The All-Star defender missed the Fermanagh game and clearly wasn’t fully fit against Derry so he’ll be itching to make his presence felt on Sunday. Harte was also one of four Tyrone players sent off against Armagh during the League.
He could find himself marked by the man who picked up Armagh’s red card that day - Greg McCabe.
The Shane O'Neill's clubman was one of the few Armagh players who impressed against Donegal and he is growing into a leader of their defence.
Connaire Mackin (Armagh) v Conn Kilpatrick (Tyrone)
The midfield match-ups probably won’t be known until David Coldrick throws the ball in at 1.30pm on Sunday. Armagh are without Niall Grimley and Ciaran Mackin while Tyrone have lost Brian Kennedy and Padraig McNulty.
Armagh may deploy Oisin O’Neill or Stephen Sheridan at midfield, but Ben Crealey is the more likely starter alongside Connaire Mackin.
Tyrone’s Conn Kilpatrick has been in fine form this season and Mattie Donnelly could return to the engine room after missing the last two games for the All-Ireland champions.
Ronan McNamee (Tyrone) v Rian O’Neill (Armagh)
This battle could be worth the admission fee alone as Tyrone’s Ronan McNamee lines up against Rian O’Neill.
McNamee missed the League meeting when Michael McKernan held O’Neill to just one point from play.
However, McNamee’s temperament is better suited to putting the shackles on the Crossmaglen attacker.
O’Neill’s form has dipped slightly since he lit up the early stages of the League and Armagh will need him firing on all cylinders on Sunday regardless of who is he up against.
Aidan Forker (Armagh) v Darren McCurry (Tyrone)
As one of the most experienced members of the Armagh squad, Aidan Forker is now Kieran McGeeney’s go-to man when it comes to big man-marking duties.
The Maghery ace fared well in patches against Michael Murphy and he’ll need to be touch-tight against Darren McCurry on Sunday.
Chrissy McKaigue held the All-Star attacker to just two points in Omagh and Forker will be aiming to do a similar job on the Edendork clubman on Sunday.
Read more: Brian Dooher insists Red Hands are ready for Orchard challenge
Read more: Orchard men can perform in big Championship games insists Oisin O'Neill
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