Birkirkara to be crowned champions?

Birkirkara will be all out to claim the three points on Friday as they take on Tarxien Rainbows in one of the two Championship Pool matches in programme. Three points which would hand the title to the Stripes for the third time in the history of the club.

By beating Tarxien, Birkirkara would regain a four-point lead on top the BOV Premier League table just five days before they take on second-placed Valletta in the final league match on Wednesday.

The Stripes are coming from a series of ten positive results – nine wins and a draw. Sunday’s dramatic 5-4 win over Hibernians was undoubtedly an important test for Paul Zammit’s side which they manage to overcome in a most dramatic manner.

Ironically the only points Birkirkara dropped in the last ten matches were in a 3-3 draw with the Rainbows. The Rainbows will therefore try their best to repeat themselves and give the Stripes a hard time. In their last outing, Tarxien managed to beat Qormi 3-2.

For the game against Birkirkara, Tarxien coach Noel Coleiro is unable to field his best formation due to the absence of Everton Antonio Pereira, Steve Sadowski and Manuel Caruana who are all ruled out through suspension and probably Anderson Mendes Ribeiro who was recovering from an injury.

Birkirkara, on the other hand, will be lacking the injured Carlo Mamo.

In the first phase, Birkirkara had defeated Tarxien 2-0 and 5-1.

Meanwhile in another match on Friday, Sliema Wanderers seek precious points in their bid to secure the third place as they take on Hibernians.

The Blues are currently third, on level points with Qormi, and now seek a win which would give them an edge over the Yellows before the two teams face each other in a decisive clash on Tuesday.

Sliema are coming from a 0-2 defeat to Valletta and won just one out of the last four matches. Hibernians, on the other hand, suffered seven consecutive defeats.

Hibs and Sliema met five times this season. Following a 1-1 draw in the Euro Cup, Sliema defeated Hibs 1-0 in the BOV Super Cup and 1-0 in the Premier League first round. The second round clash ended in a 2-2 draw but in the third round, the Wanderers registered a 2-1 win.

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