There is no such thing as a good time to play Valletta these days but Balzan must be thinking that this is possibly the worst period to face the champions.
Valletta may be the only unbeaten team in the Premier League but their 1-1 draw against bottom-placed Rabat Ajax last Friday certainly felt like a defeat as everyone expected the City ‘stars’ to dazzle their way past their modest opponents.
That failed to materialise and the shock outcome will have strengthened Valletta’s deter-mination to redeem themselves in their next outing, leaving Balzan fearing a backlash from the Whites.
“Last Friday, our performance was terrible,” Mark Miller, the Valletta coach, told The Times. “I don’t know, maybe it was complacency (on Valletta’s part) or the players being too relaxed as they expected to win easily because of who we are.
“It happens in football that the bottom team takes points off the top side but I’m doing everything to make sure that it doesn’t happen again in our next match.”
After seeing their seven-point lead at the top trimmed to four following last weekend’s games, Valletta know that failure to win today would leave the path clear for Birkirkara, who face Qormi on Sunday, to further narrow the gap.
The prospect of facing a combative Balzan team is not Miller’s only concern as a host of first-choice Valletta players are struggling with injuries and flu.
Steve Borg (knee), Ian Azzopardi (groin) and Dyson Falzon (hamstring) are out of the equation while Roderick Briffa, who missed the Rabat game, and Edmond Agius are doubtful with hamstring and foot problems respectively.
Michael Mifsud, the leading scorer in the Premier League with 10 goals, and midfielder Ryan Fenech have been suffering from influenza while goalkeeper Manuel Bartolo is recovering from a muscle strain.
“The game will be a recurrence of what we faced on Friday,” Miller said of tonight’s clash with Balzan.
“We’re expecting nothing different but on the positive side, we know what’s coming for us after the last game.
“Injuries are not helping us but I hope that we’ve had a kick up the backside.”
Valletta’s crippling casualty list allied with the hypothetical advantage the compact Tedesco Stadium gives to the underdogs, ought to boost Balzan’s optimism.
Dylan Grima, Matthew Mendy and Jamie Pace return for Balzan after serving a one-match ban but left-back Renie Forace and Brazilian forward Elton are ruled out by suspensions.
Coach Ivan Zammit, a former Valletta stalwart in his playing days, is still without Jonathan Francica while goalkeeper Matthew Camilleri is recuperating from a cruciate operation.
“The fact that Valletta drew against Rabat has further complicated our task as they will be more focused and determined to avoid another negative surprise,” Zammit said.
“We’re in the same situation as last season in that we’re playing Valletta after we had four positive results.”
As defending champions and title favourites, the pressure is inevitably on Valletta to win but Zammit insisted that the stakes are also high for Balzan.
“This is an important game for both teams,” Zammit said. “After Valletta, our next fixtures are against Rabat and Ħamrun Spartans and those are vital games for us.
“If things go wrong against Valletta, the players’ morale will go down and that would only make things harder for us before the match against Rabat.”
Today’s opening game is between Melita and Mosta.
Melita will be striving to atone for their disappointing perfor-mance in the 4-0 defeat to Sliema while the high-flying Mosta ar eyeing a return to winning ways after their goalless stalemate with Balzan.
Martin Gregory, the Melita coach, welcomes back Matthew Borg but Michael Martin is still not 100 per cent fit.
Mosta coach Steve D’Amato must cope without three first-choice players. Defender Luke Dimech is suspended, Bryan Agius is injured and Ousseni Zongo is still sick.
Programme (Tedesco Stadium)
Today: 18.00 Melita vs Mosta; 20.15 Valletta vs Balzan.
Tomorrow: 14.00 Rabat vs Tarxien; 16.15 Hibs vs Floriana.
Sunday: 14.00 Sliema vs Ħamrun; 16.15 Qormi vs Birkirkara.
BOV Division One
Today (Centenary Stadium):18.00 Gudja vs Żejtun; 20.00 Lija vs Vittoriosa.