Champions Valletta and Birkirkara will be eager to put behind them their negative results of late when they go head-to-head at the National Stadium, this evening.

After winning their opening three league matches of the season, both the Citizens and the Stripes were tipped by many to play a leading role in this year’s championship race.

However, a couple of low-key performances have seen them lose valuable ground to early pacesetters Balzan at this early juncture of the campaign.

Valletta fans had good cause to be concerned over the last ten days or so after seeing their team pick just one point from their direct clashes against Balzan (2-2), Floriana (0-2) and Hibernians (0-2).

The Stripes followers did not have too much to smile about either as they lost two of their last three matches, culminating with Monday’s unexpected 2-1 upset to bottom-placed Pembroke Athleta.

That makes victory today so important in what promises to be a very hard-fought encounter.

Jonathan Caruana, the Valletta defender, admitted that the last two weeks were very difficult for his team and the match against Birkirkara provides them with a perfect opportunity to put their title ambitions back on track.

“At Valletta FC there’s no relenting… you are always expected to win matches against all opponents let alone our direct rivals. So, the atmosphere is always somewhat tense and difficult but we can deal with that,” Caruana told Times of Malta.

“It’s true that we have some key players missing again, either be-cause of injury or suspension, but that’s not a good excuse to play below par… our performances were surely not good enough lately.

“But this week all players worked very hard in training to try and get out of this uneasy situation. The match against Birkirkara gives us a good chance to restore some lost confidence at the club.

“Birkirkara, too, are passing through a very difficult moment but they have great players to rely on. We are determined to get the three points but this will be no easy match for sure and we all know that.”

City coach Paul Zammit has been struggling to contend with a dearth of midfielders after losing the services of Roderick Briffa, who is out for several weeks after knee surgery, and Claudio Pani, who is recovering from a calf problem.

Zammit’s options were further hit by the absence of Umeh Calistus. The Nigerian must serve a one-match ban today while Argentine Leandro Aguirre completes a two-match suspension.

This week, Valletta had Angola-born playmaker Valdo Alinho for a trial. It was agreed that he will be joining the club until the end of the season.

However, until yesterday Valletta were still waiting Alinho’s international transfer certificate to complete his registration at the Malta FA offices.

Today, Birkirkara will again be without defender Christian Bubalovic. The Croat is still down with knee trouble and will only be available after the international break next month.

Coach Drazen Besek is likely to hand a recall to the likes of Cain Attard, Predrag Jovic, Gareth Sciberras, Rowen Muscat and Joseph Zerafa who were all rested for the match against Pembroke.

Besek was disappointed with his team’s showing on Monday and is expecting a strong response from his players.

“That was a poor showing against Pembroke,” Besek admitted.

“The players were too confident of beating their opponents but in football you only win matches if you perform to your best and we simply didn’t approach the match with the right attitude.

“Our matches in the last few weeks haven’t been good enough so now is the right time to regain our focus.

“After winning our first three matches we lowered our guard and now we’re four points behind leaders Balzan. But the season is long and I’m sure there will be other twists and turns along the way.

“So, there’s time to recover, starting with this match against Valletta… an ideal platform for us to seek redemption.

“Despite their run of poor results, Valletta are still the team to beat in the Premier League and we need to show our true strength and give everything we have to get back on the winning track.”

The other Premier League matches in programme...

Grioli out for Balzan

■ Balzan will be without Justin Grioli for today’s match against St Andrew’s as the Premier League pacesetters look to preserve their unbeaten start to the season.

Balzan have won five and drew one of their opening six matches and will fancy their chances of prolonging that positive run with victory over the Saints.

Grioli must serve a one-match ban today.

St Andrew’s can rely on midfielder Nenad Belacevic for this match.

The Serbian has recovered from a knee injury while wingback Ante Bakmaz is also poised to start after he missed the 1-0 defeat to Mosta as he was down with flu.

Ryan Darmanin remains doubtful with groin trouble.

Nisevic faces PAOLITES

■ Branko Nisevic will be up against his past when he leads Gżira United for the match against Hibernians.

Nisevic parted ways with the Paolites at the end of last season, when he was replaced by Mark Miller, so he will surely be keen to put one over his former employers this evening.

The Maroons are boosted with the return of Brazilian duo Tony and Robert who have completed their suspension. Defender Clifford Gatt Baldacchino and striker Rafael Ledesma will undergo a late fitness test, however.

Hibs must check on the fitness of wingback Clayton Failla who hurt his knee in the 2-0 win over Valletta earlier this week.

Brazilian striker Jorginho is pushing for a start after coming on as a late substitute against the Citizens.

Murga doubt for Mosta

■ Mosta are sweating on the fitness of striker Edin Murga ahead of this clash against Ħamrun Spartans.

Edmond Lufi’s Blues come into the match in high spirits after defeating St Andrew’s in their last match. Murga is Mosta’s major doubt as the Bosnian is struggling with a pulled hamstring.

Steve D’Amato, the Ħamrun coach, will have to plan without defensive duo Christian Maldini and Luis Vergara.

Goalkeeper David Cassar (arm), Glenn Azzopardi (knee) and Jean Pierre Mifsud Triganza (knee) are all rated as doubtful and could skip the clash against Mosta.

Buoyant Pembroke

■ Pembroke Athleta will be looking to build on their impressive 2-1 win over Birkirkara to move up the standings.

Winston Muscat’s team are currently bottom on three points and will be keen to make it two wins in a row to keep the other teams in the bottom half within striking distance.

Pembroke are unlikely to make big changes to the team that performed superbly against Birkirkara with match-winner Bernardo Mariano favourite to keep his place up front at the expense of Luke Montebello.

Tarxien must check on the fitness of Emerson Marcelina. The defensive midfielder suffered a knock in the 2-1 upset to Sliema Wanderers.

Ayrton Azzopardi (knee) and Julian Galea (groin) are out with injuries.

Tiago, Denni set for debut

■ Sliema Wanderers are expected to hand a debut to Brazilians Tiago Bruno Goncalves, a defender, and forward Denni when they face Floriana in the Old Firm clash tomorrow.

Tiago and Denni both agreed to join the Blues earlier this week as the Wanderers look to move up the standings after a rather low-key start to the new season.

Tiago was brought in to fill the void left by Stefano Bianchiardi and Roger who are facing a long spell on the sidelines through injury. Glenn Zammit is likely to continue in goal as Italian Giuseppe Sarao is still sidelined.

Floriana will have coach Giovanni Tedesco starting a four-match touchline ban. The Italian was punished after comments he made to officials at the end of the match against Ħamrun Spartans (1-1).

The Greens have no selection worries and are set to be at full strength.

Premier League Fixtures

Playing today (Hibs Stadium)

18.00 Balzan vs St Andrew’s     
20.00 Hibernians vs Gżira United

Playing today (National Stadium)

18.00 Mosta vs Ħamrun Spartans
20.00 Valletta vs Birkirkara

Tomorrow (National Stadium)

15.00 Pembroke Athleta vs Tarxien
17.00 Sliema Wanderers vs Floriana

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.