Four teams will be battling for their Premier League status on Friday when they play their final fixture of the season concurrently in what promises to be an enthralling evening.
At present, there are four teams, namely St Andrews, Mosta, Tarxien Rainbows and Naxxar Lions bracketed in just four points, therefore nothing less than a win today will assure them of avoiding joining Lija Athletic in Division One next season.
St Andrews and Tarxien Rainbows will go head to head in a direct relegation duel.
The Saints, buoyed by last week’s stunning 2-1 win over Birkirkara, are on the 23-point mark, one ahead of the in-form Tarxien and need just a draw from today’s match to secure their top flight status for another season.
Still, Joseph Farrugia, who took charge of the team alongside Michael Woods midway through the season, said that his team had little room for calculations and will go out for maximum spoils.
“This season has been a long and hard journey for us with several difficult moments,” Farrugia said.
“When Michael Woods and I were handed the reins of the side, we only had six points to show for our efforts.
“However, the players responded well to our new playing philosophy and the team started to show better tactical discipline which helped us to a very strong second-round performance where we managed to pick 16 points that lifted us out of the relegation zone.
“Now we only have one match to go and although a point would be enough to maintain our top-flight status we don’t want to take any risks and want to finish with a win.
“It will not be easy as Tarxien, too, are passing through a very positive patch but there is great determination from the players to finish the job in style.”
The Saints cannot field their strongest formation as forward Kemar Reid has been handed a three-match ban after he was dismissed after the final whistle of his team’s 2-1 win over Birkirkara.
Tarxien, on their part, have no selection problems and coach Jose Borg is hopeful his players will maintain their impressive form of late which saw them beat league leaders Balzan 3-1 and hold Hibernians 2-2 in their last two outings.
“This is a must-win match for us,” Borg, who will be facing his former club, said.
“We knew from some time that our final match against St Andrews would be a decisive fixture for our ambitions of keeping our place in the Premier League.
“There is no doubt that the positive results attained against Balzan and Hibernians have put us in a better position. In fact, if we lose to St Andrews and Naxxar beat Senglea we would have another opportunity as we would fact the Lions in a play-off.
“But we are keen to seal our Premier League status tomorrow and we are focused on winning the match. The players are passing through a very positive spell and I have no doubt that we can finish the job against St Andrews.”
Elsewhere, Mosta can salvage their Premier League status even if they lose to Sliema Wanderers but only if Tarxien fail to take at least a point against St Andrews.
Poor run
The Blues will surely been concerned by their form of late as six successive defeats have seen them slid back into the red zone and surely will be keen at least avoid a defeat against the Wanderers to avoid a potential tricky relegation play-off against Żejtun Corinthians.
Johann Scicluna, the Mosta coach, will be without Italian defender Davide Mansi and midfielder Kurt Magro who must serve a one-match ban.
Naxxar, on their part, are facing a desperate scenario.
Despite last week’s win over Mosta, the Lions are banking on St Andrews to defeat Tarxien to force a decider against the Rainbows for a place in the relegation play-off.
Coach Oliver Spiteri can bank on a full squad.