Following Valletta’s 3-3 draw with Sliema Wanderers, Hibernians need a win from the clash from Floriana at the National Stadium on Saturday to be crowned champions for the eleventh time.
The Paolites, unbeaten in twenty-nine matches, lie on the 49-point mark, eight points ahead of Valletta and ten ahead of Birkirkara and therefore a win would put them on 52 points – beyond Valletta and Birkirkara’s reach.
Having beaten the Greens 3-0 and 5-0 in the previous two rounds, Hibernians start as firm favourites to claim the three points although Floriana are currently chasing fourth place, lying seven points behind Balzan. They won four of the last seven matches and are coming from a narrow defeat to Valletta in their last outing.
Matteo Piciollo and Amadou Samb are ruled out for Floriana as they serve a suspension while Conor Borg and Clyde Borg are injured but Douglas Moreira Cobo returns after missing the Valletta game. Andrew Cohen and Rui da Gracia are both suspended.
Meanwhile in the second match, Tarxien Rainbows and Mosta both target precious points in their battle against relegation.
Mosta are currently seventh on 20 points, followed by Naxxar on 18, Qormi 15, Tarxien 14, Pietà and Zebbug 12.
A stoppage-time goal enabled Tarxien to return to winning ways as they defeated Naxxar following seven consecutive defeats. Mosta, on the other hand, won two out of the last four matches, defeating Zebbug and Pietà.
Mouhamed Soly is suspended while Sean Mintoff, Carlos Menendez Hevia and Jorge Yepes are all recovering from injuries.
In the first round, Mosta defeated Tarxien 2-1 with the second round clash ending in a 1-1 draw.