Valletta seek to maintain top position
Valletta will be aiming for another victory, this time against lowly St Andrews, to maintain their top position – either as sole leaders or jointly with Gzira (if the latter won their match against Senglea last night).
Before last night’s match, Valletta and Gzira were occupying the top placing jointly on 19 points, followed by Balzan on 15, Hibernians, Floriana and Sliema on 14 points.
The programme this weekend is spread over three days between yesterday and Monday. No matches are being played tomorrow.
Today, Valletta will be facing beleaguered St Andrews who are passing through a bad moment. They are an unrecognisable side from that seen last season. So far, they have six points from two wins and six defeats. They are last from bottom, together with Naxxar, on 6 points.
The citizens will certainly start as hot favourites to bag another three points, but they cannot forget what happened last year when the Saints scored an unexpected 3-1 win in the late stages of the season.
In the second match, Birkirkara will be facing Tarxien Rainbows and the Stripes would be expected to do their best to obtain another three points.
Paul Zammit’s side managed to break a two-match negative run with a 2-0 win against neighbours Lija Athletic last week and their fans will now be eager to see the side maintain the progress seen in that match.
A victory against Tarxien will lift them to a healthier placing – it has been somewhat embarrassing for such a top side to be occupying such a low placing in the standings after so many seasons.
Tarxien were rattled by Valletta to the tune of 6-0 in their last match and they will certainly have to upgrade their standards if they are to offer a strong challenge to the Stripes.
Hibernians will also be aiming for the three points when they take on bottom club Lija Athletic.
The latter are finding the going quite tough in the Premier League – after eight matches, they have collected just one point.
The side will do much better if they avoid certain mistakes at the back and the front line improves its finishing touch.
The Paolites have also been somewhat inconsistent, but they should be able to win comfortably this afternoon.
In the other match today, Floriana will be aiming to return to winning form as they take on lowly Naxxar Lions.
The Greens were held to an unexpected 2-2 draw by Mosta in their last encounter. Losing two points against a mid-table placed club did not go down well with their fans who are now expecting their favourites to return to winning form against the Lions.
The latter did well to beat St Andrews 3-1 in their last encounter. It was their first victory this season and they now look forward with more optimism, though they must be aware that they will be facing an awesome task against the ambitious Greens.
The programme will come to a conclusion on Monday with another two matches at the Victor Tedesco Stadium in Hamrun.
Balzan and Mosta clash in what should be a close encounter, although Balzan will be eager to get the three points in their quest for their first ever championship title.
In the second match, Sliema will be eyeing another victory to maintain their current good form – in their last two matches they beat Birkirkara 30 and Hibernians 1-0.
On the other hand, the Spartans came back strongly after their heavy 4-0 defeat against Gzira, to beat Senglea 3-1. Now they will be eager to maintain their positive approach to try and surprise the Wanderers.