The winner of this evening's eagerly-anticipated derby between fierce rivals Sliema McDonald's and Neptunes Vodafone will make a huge step towards winning this summer's national league which is now only two matches away from completion.
With San Ġiljan Tropicana and Sirens Ritter Sport out of contention following last week's upsets to Sliema and Neptunes respectively, the co-leaders in Division One will again cross swords to determine where the championship honours will be heading to this year.
Sliema, the current champions, have won the league on 30 occasions and Neptunes 18 times. This will be the third Red-Blues clash this summer with both sides having won one apiece in their previous two matches.
Neptunes did well in the preliminary round fixture, winning 13-11, but Sliema hit back in the first round of the championship proper last month after securing two precious points following a tight 11-10 victory in an abrasive match.
Sirens almost upset the Neptunes' applecart last week but their resistance crumbled in the latter two sessions, having enjoyed the upperhand before ends were changed.
The next day, San Ġiljan tried hard to stay within striking distance of the leading duo but they were unable to match Sliema's efficient play and eventually succumbed to an 11-5 defeat, a result that shattered the Saints' hopes of winning the league for the first time since 1995.
Sliema are relying heavily on world-class players Bogdan Rath and Raymond Fodor this season.
However, the foreigners' option is not the only card in coach Sergio Afric's hand at the moment as the Blues boast a squad of all-round performers with their up-coming players providing excellent cover for the established regulars.
Italian Leonardo Sottani and Aljosa Kunac, of Croatia, are also doing a tremendous job for Neptunes, especially the latter who scored two decisive goals against Sirens last Saturday that handed Paolo Malara's team a decisive edge.
Like Afric, Malara has a resourceful squad at his disposal with Steve Camilleri, Neptunes' chief goal-grabber, and the rest of the 'old guard' itching to win today's game and edge closer to wrestling the title from their rivals' grasp.
The league will come to an end next week with the final round of matches but the team claiming the two points today will have one hand on the BOV trophy, knowing that the other two sides in Division One will probably reserve their energies for the KO competition.
Meanwhile, San Ġiljan will claim the platonic third place in the league if they avoid defeat to Sirens in tomorrow's other Division One match at Tal-Qroqq but today's curtain-raiser is bound to generate added interest as Exiles Jet Services are on the verge of retaining the Division Two league title.
Joe Caruana Dingli's team, two points clear at the top, play second-placed Marsascala in the final league match for both teams this summer.
Fixtures
Today:
Division Two - 6.15 p.m. Exiles vs Marsascala.
Division One - 7.30 p.m. Sliema vs Neptunes.
Tomorrow:
Division Two - 5.15 p.m. Ta' Xbiex vs Otters.
Division One - 6.30 p.m. Sirens vs San Ġiljan.