Vittoriosa Stars vs Qormi (today at 2 p.m., Hibs Stadium).

Five points adrift at the bottom of the table, Vittoriosa Stars must win this game to resurrect their survival hopes.

For Qormi, this game is also critical as victory would take them eight points clear of their impending opponents with only one team to be relegated from the top flight.

Both sides are desperate to return to winning ways after Vittoriosa went down 2-1 to Hibs while Qormi suffered a 4-0 thumping at the hands of Sliema.

Vittoriosa coach Winston Muscat will monitor proceedings from the stands today after being slapped with a two-match touchline ban following his sending-off in the game against Hibs.

Malta U-21 winger Leighton Grech is out as he serves the second of a two-match suspension while Pierre Aquilina is plagued by a recurring knee injury.

Qormi coach Stephen Azzopardi will be hoping that his players make amends for their off-colour display against Sliema with a top-notch performance this afternoon.

Matthew Bartolo and Roderick Sammut are ruled out with injuries but goalkeeper Matthew Farrugia is set to return after seeing out his one-match ban.

Previous results – Qormi vs Vittoriosa 4-2, 2-2.

Floriana vs Tarxien Rainbows (today at 4 p.m., Hibs Stadium).

Michael Woods will take charge of his first Premier League game since being promoted to first-team coach at Floriana following the dismissal of Bulgarian Todor Raykov last weekend.

The former St George’s mentor will be looking to lead the Greens to their first win after four defeats on the trot.

Tarxien Rainbows coach Noel Coleiro is also eager to see his team return to winning ways as the erstwhile high-fliers have gained only one point from their last three league outings.

Woods is hopeful that striker Daniel Nwoke will make his comeback from injury in this afternoon’s game.

Ivan Woods, Christian Caruana and Pablo Doffo are all ranked as doubtful while young midfielder Clyde Borg is suspended.

Coleiro has his fair share of selection problems as Daniel Mariano Bueno, Manuel Caruana and Justin Grioli miss out through suspension.

Also, Tarxien midfielder Mark Tanti is out for the rest of the season with a cruciate injury.

Previous results – Floriana vs Tarxien 0-2, 1-3.

Ħamrun Spartans vs Birkirkara (tomorrow at 2 p.m., National Stadium).

Birkirkara will be looking to make the most of Valletta’s partial slip-up last week by beating Ħamrun, knowing that a win would turn up the heat on their rivals.

Paul Zammit, the Birkirkara coach, must make do without midfielder Shaun Bajada, suspended.

Trevor Cilia is making progress in his recovery from a torn hamstring but he is unlikely to play this one.

The champions are on a high after producing a fine performance to ease to a 3-1 win over Tarxien last weekend. Not that the Spartans are short on confidence after Dyson Falzon’s late equaliser against Valletta extended their unbeaten se-quence to three games.

Nigerian forward Peter Anizoba is suspended for the Spartans who are still without Dylan Kokavessis, injured.

On the plus side, coach Steve D’Amato is hopeful of receiving the all-clear to include Roderick Fenech and Marcelo Pereira in his squad while striker Gaetan Spiteri returns from suspension.

Previous results – Ħamrun vs Birkirkara 1-1, 0-2.

Sliema Wanderers vs Hibs (Monday at 7.30 p.m., Hibs Stadium).

Three points for Sliema would all but banish their relegation fears after the Blues gave their salvation hopes a massive boost with a 4-0 hammering of Qormi.

Hibs are still in the relegation mire but a win on Monday would also represent a significant step towards survival.

Sliema will be looking to make it four wins in four matches since Danilo Doncic replaced Mark Marlow as coach.

He is widely expected to stick with the formation that brushed Qormi aside last Monday.

Winger John Mintoff is nearing the end of his rehab from injury and could be in the squad. However, the luckless Alex Muscat is still recovering from a muscle strain.

Hibs coach Mark Miller will have been delighted with the fighting spirit shown by his players in their 2-1 defeat of Vittoriosa.

Scottish winger Brian Fairbarn is out of the picture for Hibs after his red card last weekend cost him a one-match ban. Jean Paul Farrugia is struggling with hamstring trouble.

Previous results – Sliema vs Hibernians 0-0, 4-0.