Balzan and Santa Lucia will both be all out to claim the three points on Friday as they take on Sliema Wanderers and Valletta respectively in the last matches from the BOV Premier League Play-Out final round at the Tony Bezzina Stadium and National Stadium respectively. Both matches kick-off at 19:00.
The two teams share the the second place from bottom on 27 points and a win for either side and a draw or defeat for the other would condemn the latter to playing in the Challenge League.
Despite two defeats to Santa Lucia and Mosta, Balzan bounced back with a 1-1 draw with Valletta and a 3-2 win over Sirens. Santa Lucia, on the other hand, defeated Balzan 3-0 but then were held in a 2-2 draw by Sirens, 1-1 by Mosta, losing 1-2 to Sliema.
Valletta and Santa Lucia met twice this season with Valletta defeating Santa Lucia 5-3 in the first round and Santa Lucia registering a 2-1 win in the second. The two teams will be meeting once again on Tuesday in the semi-finals of the Izibet FA Trophy.
Sliema and Balzan met twice this season with Balzan winning 1-0 and Sliema winning the second round clash 1-0.
In case both Santa Lucia and Balzan win or both teams obtain the same result on Friday, a decider would be necessary to determine which team will be relegated to the Challenge League.
If Santa Lucia are eliminated from the Izibet FA Trophy, the decider would be played on Saturday 14 at the Tony Bezzina Stadium, kick-off at 17:00. On the other hand, if Santa Lucia reach the Izibet FA Trophy final, the decider would be played on Thursday 19 at at the Tony Bezzina Stadium, kick-off at 19:00.
