Valletta could move to just one point behind joint-leaders Hibernians and Birkirkara should they beat Mosta in one of the two matches in programme at the Hibernians Stadium on Sunday.

Following Hibernians’ 0-1 defeat to neighbours Tarxien Rainbows and Birkirkara’s 4-2 win over Rabat Ajax, the two teams lead the way with 29 points and Valletta could move to 28 points should they earn maximum points from Sunday’s game.

The Citizens, however, need to do much better than they did in their last outing when they were held in a 1-1 draw by Balzan.

Mosta are currently fifth on sixteen points and seek precious points from this game in order to keep the distance from Naxxar Lions and the other teams chasing a place in the Championship Pool. In their last outing, they were held in a 2-2 draw by Tarxien.

For Mosta, Jonas Rodriguez Ekani is suspended while Diego Pereira, Armando Vieira dos Santos and Ryan Grech are ruled out injured. On the other hand, Valletta coach Mark Miller could not count on the suspended Jason Lee Vandelannoite while Ian Azzopardi, Yessous Camilleri, Dyson Falzon, Hamza Barry and Aziz Corr Nyang are all ruled out injured. However they could have Nigerian striker Raimi Bakare making his debut.

In the first round, Valletta defeated Mosta 2-1.

Meanwhile in the first match, Qormi take on Sliema Wanderers.

A win is a must for the Blues as they aim to keep the pace with the teams on top as they are currently fourth on 21 points. Qormi, on the other hand, could only hope for a positive result in order to climb out from the danger zone as they are currently second from bottom on eight points. They are coming from a 0-3 defeat to Floriana two weeks ago.

Qormi will be without the suspended Matthew Farrugia, Owen Bugeja and Alfred Effiong while Jorginho is ruled out injured. For Sliema, Stanley Ohawuchi is yet to recover from an injury.

In the first round, Sliema defeated Qormi 4-0.

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