Sliema hope to bounce back after back-to-back defeats

Following back-to-back defeats to Hibernians and Birkirkara, Sliema Wanderers will be hoping to bounce back on Saturday as they take on Qormi at the Hibernians Stadium, kick-off at 16:00.

Until two weeks ago, the Blues were lying in second place on 16 points but now Gzira lead by 24 points, followed by Valletta on 22 and Hibernians on 21. A win is therefore a must in order to move back on track. 

Their opponents, Qormi, are coming from six consecutive defeats and share the bottom spot with Senglea Athletic. They even failed to score in the last four matches. Earlier this week, coach Brian Spiteri handed his resignation and leading the team for this game will be his assistant Matthew Psaila before a new coach is appointed early next week with Mario Muscat set to be appointed as the new Qormi coach.

The Blues could not count on the suspended Kilian Amehi.

Meanwhile at the Hibernians Stadium, kick-off at 14:00, St Andrews take on Pietà Hotspurs.

Following an impressive 2-0 win over Balzan, St. Andrews hope for another positive result in order to climb further up the table. They currently share the eighth place with Tarxien on 12 points, three ahead of Pietà. The Saints won three out of the last four matches, losing only to Senglea.

The Hotspurs, on the other hand, collected four precious points in their last two outings after defeating Floriana 2-1 and holding leaders Gzira United in a 1-1 draw. 

Pietà will be without the suspended Paul Chimezie. Kevyn Mcfarlane serves a suspension for St. Andrews.

At the Centenary Stadium, kick-off at 14:00, Hamrun Spartans face Senglea Athletic.

Back-to-back wins over Birkirkara and Qormi saw the Spartans move fifth and a win over Senglea could enable them to move further up. Senglea, however, are desperate for points, having won just one of the nine matches played so far.

Hamrun’s Karl Micallef and Senglea’s Braian Volpini are serving a one-match ban.

In the second match at the Centenary Stadium, kick-off at 16:15, Tarxien Rainbows take on Balzan.

After defeating Qormi and Senglea, Tarxien hope to earn more precious points from the clash with Balzan. The latter failed to impress in recent outings, losing three out of the last four matches to Valletta, Gzira and St. Andrews and defeating Floriana. In fact, just three points separate Balzan and Tarxien. A win is a must for Marko Micovic’s side as they now lie nine points behind leaders Gzira.