B'Kara, Qormi in a battle for the top spot

The top spot will be at stake on Saturday as Birkirkara and Qormi cross swords in a battle between the teams lying in second and third place respectively. Valletta currently lead the way with 37 points, followed by Birkirkara on 36 and Qormi on 35.

In the first round, Birkirkara registered a most comfortable 5-2 win. A great performance by the Stripes and one of the most disappointing displays by Qormi this season.

Birkirkara won two of the last three matches, defeating Floriana and Msida St. Joseph and losing to Sliema Wanderers. On the other hand, after losing to Valletta and Tarxien Rainbows, Qormi bounced back with two wins over Hamrun Spartans and Dingli Swallows.

No players are ruled out through suspension but Birkirkara’s Joseph Zerafa, George Mallia and Angus Buhagiar together with Qormi’s Camilo Da Silva Sanvezzo are all expected to miss the game due to injuries.

Melita Sports shall broadcast the match Birkirkara vs Qormi live. The programme MATCHDAY shall start at 13:30 and ends with highlights and interviews after the match.

Meanwhile in the second match, Sliema Wanderers take on Hibernians.

After a series of disappointing results, the Wanderers are back on track winning their last three matches against Dingli, Birkirkara and Floriana. The 3-0 win over Floriana in their last outing also enabled Sliema to overtake the Paolites and move fourth. Hibernians, in fact, collected just three points from the last five matches, losing two out of the last three games. Last week, they lost 0-1 to Tarxien Rainbows and on Tuesday, they were eliminated from the National League 100 Anniversary Cup, losing 0-2 to Valletta.

Both sides will be unable to field their best formation as Sliema’s Pedro Dos Santos Calcado and Jonathan Caruana of Hibernians are both ruled out through suspension.

The two teams already met three times this season. Following a 1-1 draw in the Euro Cup in July, Sliema defeated Hibernians 1-0 in the BOV Super Cup. In the BOV Premier League first round, Sliema registered another 1-0 win.