City in ‘must-win’ opener

Football fever starts gripping tight this weekend when the 2012/13 BOV Premier League kicks off with the opening round of matches between today and Monday.

Valletta have won the championship these past two years and tomorrow (kick-off: 8.30 p.m.) they start their title defence with a match against Tarxien Rainbows.

An intriguing fixture is in prospect on Monday when Hibernians, runners-up last season, face an ambitious Mosta who caught the eye with their heavy spending this summer.

Sliema and Floriana face off in the first Old Firm clash of the season while newcomers Rabat and Melita will get their first taste of Premier League football when they play Qormi and Birkirkara respectively.

A duel between Championship Pool hopefuls Ħamrun Spartans and Balzan lays in store tomorrow but this weekend the spotlight will be on Valletta’s first outing of the new season.

Mark Miller is a man of challenge but filling in for former coach Jesmond Zerafa, who had led the Citizens to two successive championships, will be a mammoth task for the Englishman.

“Winning the first league match of the season is always important,” Miller told The Times.

“These are still early days and with the majority of teams making a lot of changes you don’t really know where your opponents could potentially be.

“Against Tarxien, we have to impose our game from kick-off and produce the same kind of football we did in recent weeks. So far this summer, we succeeded in adopting a solid, attacking game and now we have to continue on that.

“Tarxien will be no easy ride. However, this is a match we must win.”

Defender Jonathan Caruana is still out for Valletta with an injury in his abdomen while attacking midfielder Denni is unlikely to start as he is still not over yet with knee trouble.

Tarxien’s task

Tarxien only have three overseas players available for this match as Brazilian defender Evaldo will be unavailable.

For coach Danilo Doncic, tomorrow will be his first official appearance since taking over at the Rainbows. He is undaunted with the task facing his team whose modest ambitions should be to secure a place in the top six after two rounds.

“Valletta are surely the best team in the championship and we’re in for a gruelling 90 minutes,” Doncic admitted.

“But, in a way it’s better for us to play Valletta at this stage of the season. Surely, they are still far from peak form so this is the right moment to cause an upset.

“But to do so we have to stay compact and give our all while trying to hit them on the counter.

“Who knows, if luck favours the brave we can return home with a point in the bag from a very difficult match.”

Debuts for Wright and Greco, Levnaic joins Hibs

Rabat Ajax vs Qormi (today 6.30 p.m., National Stadium).

Rabat and Qormi have the honour to raise the curtain on the new Premier League season today.

For Rabat, this will be their first appearance in the top flight in 11 years and coach Silvio Vella is hopeful his players can kickstart their new adventure with an encouraging display.

Qormi will fancy their chances to win this opener.

However, coach Stephen Azzopardi will be without new signing Gaetan Spiteri, who must serve a one-match ban.

Also, Qormi are still awaiting the international clearance of Italian striker Vincenzo Pisani and Argentine forward Sebastiano Siritto.

Sliema Wanderers vs Floriana (today 8.30 p.m., National Stadium).

It’s England vs Italy in the Old Firm clash tonight as former Three Lions defender Mark Wright will make his debut on the Floriana bench against Sliema Wanderers now under the charge of new Italian coach Alfonso Greco.

Both teams are still finding their feet as Wright and Greco have only been in charge for the last few weeks.

Floriana have just signed English duo Aman Verma, a midfielder, and defender Carl Tremarco but registrations have yet to be finalised.

Sliema will be without Argentine midfielder Diego Ortega, sidelined with a muscle strain, while Clifford Gatt Baldacchino is doubtful with knee trouble.

Ħamrun Spartans vs Balzan (tomorrow 6.30 p.m., National Stadium).

Ħamrun and Balzan face each other in a league opener for a second successive season.

Last year, the Reds won the match 3-1 but it was Balzan who took the points on the table after a successful protest.

This summer, Ħamrun effected several additions to their squad in the hope of playing Championship Pool football.

Defender Glenn Azzopardi (ankle) and Bulgarian Anton Vergilov (foot) are out for the Spartans.

Balzan seem to have surpassed pre-season without injury worries and tomorrow coach Ivan Zammit has an almost complete squad to choose from with Renie Forace (groin) facing a late fitness test.

Hibernians vs Mosta (Monday 6.30 p.m., Hibs Stadium).

Big-spending Mosta face an early test to their credentials when squaring up to title contenders Hibernians.

The arrivals of Malta trio Daniel Bogdanovic, Justin Haber and Luke Dimech, among others, have inevitably raised the expectations inside the Mosta clan in the off-season.

New signing Manolito Micallef will have to skip this match for the Blues to serve suspension.

Hibs could hand a debut to latest acquisition Zoran Levnaic, the Serb midfielder who is making a return to the Paolites after his stint in Corradino in 2010-11.

Coach Michael Woods welcomes back defender Jonathan Pearson who is now 100 per cent fit but striker John Nwoba (knee), Jean Paul Farrugia (ankle) and Triston Caruana (knee) are all doubtful.

Birkirkara vs Melita (Monday 8.30 p.m., Hibs Stadium).

Birkirkara are considered favourites to open their campaign on a winning note when they take on newcomers Melita.

Many are rating the Stripes as strong contenders this year with the promotion of some exciting young players into Paul Zammit’s squad.

Stripes defender Nikola Vukanac starts a two-match ban, following his dismissal in the Tivoli Cup last week.

Martin Gregory, the Melita coach, starts on a bad footing as two experienced members inside his fold – skipper Michael Martin and defender Ramon Serra Camacho – will skip this match as they’re still in the treatment room.