City face Msida without Zammit, Grima

Valletta vs Msida St Joseph (today at 8 p.m., National Stadium).
Valletta will be itching to rediscover their winning touch after their five-match unbeaten run was halted by Marsaxlokk last week.

However, the Citizens will be the first to acknowledge the difficulty of their task today as they must contend with a strong Msida team whose second position in the standings is testament to their excellent form and consistency so far this season.

Starting the campaign with a Championship Pool berth as their chief objective, both Msida and Valletta have backed up their ambition with a string of good results.

Msida have already secured their place in the top six after gaining 27 points from 12 matches while Valletta, with 23 points from the same number of games, are almost there.

Paul Zammit, the Valletta coach, will have invested a lot of energy into boosting his team's morale after their below-par performance against Marsaxlokk. The Valletta mentor will also be hoping that the return of Uzeh Edafe will galvanise his team's midfield after suspension forced the Nigerian to miss the match against the leaders.

Zammit cannot send out his best formation after Ian Zammit and Massimo Grima were give a one-match ban yesterday. A fourth yellow card in the 1-0 loss to Marsaxlokk is the cause of Zammit's suspension while Grima came in for punishment after he was reported by referee Chris Lautier for his verbal exchange with team-mate Dyson Falzon at the end of Friday's match.

Argentine striker Sebastian Monesterolo is doubtful with a thigh injury.

Patrick Curmi, the Msida coach, is unlikely to make changes to the team that dismissed Pietà 3-1 last weekend. Msida have no injury or suspension problems.

First round result - Msida vs Valletta 2-2.

Pietà vs St George's (tomorrow at 12.45 p.m., Tedesco Stadium).
It's still early to talk about relegation ties but Pietà and St George's will surely attach the proverbial six-point tag to their direct encounter tomorrow.

With the bottom three teams seemingly destined to wage a three-way fight to avoid relegation, Pietà and St George's need the three points to bolster their survival hopes.

Pietà coach Carmel Busuttil is expected to restore Svetlan Kondev to his starting line-up after suspension prevented the Bulgarian midfielder from lining up against Msida but Pietà forward Ryan Camilleri must serve a one-match ban.

Bottom-placed St George's, who have a four-point lead over the Hotspurs, must make do without Larry Lagana, suspended.

First round result - St George's vs Pietà 1-1.

Floriana vs Marsaxlokk (tomorrow at 2.45 p.m., Tedesco Stadium).
Marsaxlokk will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to 12 consecutive matches when they meet Floriana.

Last week, Brian Talbot's men ground out a deserved 1-0 win over the erstwhile in-form Valletta to underline their credentials.

That victory was achieved without the input of two key players for Marsaxlokk, midfielders Jamie Pace and Kevin Sammut who were suspended. The Malta duo are back in the frame for tomorrow's game but they face a fight to reclaim their first-team status after the Blues' sprightly showing last week.

Striker Andrè Schembri is Marsaxlokk's only notable absentee as he continues to recover from an ankle operation.

Now five points adrift of sixth place, Floriana desperately need to win tomorrow to get closer to the Championship Pool zone.

Joe Grech, the Floriana coach, still has significant injury problems to deal with as Brazilians Wendell Gomes and Sullivan da Silva are out with injuries. Trevor Cilia and Angus Buhagiar are ranked as doubtful while midfielder Mauro Brincat is still serving a club suspension.

The only positive news for Floriana, still reeling from back-to-back defeats to rivals Valletta and Sliema, is the return from suspension of midfielder Manolito Micallef.

First round result - Floriana vs Marsaxlokk 2-4.

Football Milestones

Floriana midfielder Kurt Formosa could play his 100th Premier League match against Marsaxlokk tomorrow. Formosa made his Premier League debut for Floriana in a match against Rabat Ajax on December 26, 1998.

Sliema defender Lee Lombardi made his 99th official appearance in Maltese football when coming on as a first-half substitute in the 2-1 win over Marsa last weekend. He played his first match on February 2, 1999 for St Andrew's in a Division One match against Gozo FC.

rdahles@onvol.net