By Arnold Farrugia
Senglea v Marsa: Senglea will face Marsa in what is to be the top game in the top six this weekend in the BOV Challenge League with both teams trying to bounce back to winning ways after suffering defeats in the last game against Melita and Zabbar St.Patrick respectively.
A game where even a draw might not be enough for both teams to open the promotion hopes especially if Żabbar and Melita manage to win.
Melita vs Żurrieq is a game where Melita should come out on the winning side against Żurrieq who have managed to reach their objective already and are sitting comfortably in 6th place. Basically they are the underdogs in this Top six round. Meanwhile Melita are in second place with their morale very high after beating Senglea in the dying moments and earning the 3 points. Melita will have one key player out Martinez missing due to injury, while Julian Abela is still in doubt due fatigue.
Żabbar vs Pieta on Sunday will be a match where league leaders Żabbar start as firm favourites against a young team with lack of experience in such matches despite having a lot of local international players. Żabbar should not only win this match but are also firm favourites to win the league and automatic promotion. Despite all this Pieta’ will not sit and look at their opponents but should give a decent opposition and try to gain at least a point to continue their positive run.
Msida vs Lija is a match where Lija should bounce back to winning ways after their disappointing progress first when they failed to reach the top 6 and then came their humiliating defeat against Tarxien in their last outing. Meanwhile Msida are struggling a lot this season and are sitting bottom of the table with just 6 points.
Żebbuġ vs Fgura: Here we have a very similar scenario where Fgura failed to reach the top six spot while Żebbuġ are struggling and trying to avoid relegation. Fgura Utd won their last match against Attard, while Żebbuġ lost against Swieqi.
Attard vs Luqa is a direct encounter against the drop to the Amateur League where Luqa SA cannot afford a draw if they want to avoid relegatio. A defeat in this match for Attard should create more problems and eventually it will be very difficult for them to avoid the return to Malta’s lowest Division after two years in the Challenge League.
Tarxien vs Żejtun will be a match where Tarxien as favourites to get the 3 points especially after their impressive win against Lija in the last match. Żejtun should also be happy with a draw from this match against the most underachieved team in this league this season. Żejtun are also fighting to avoid relegation.
Swieqi vs St.Andrews: This derby is open for all possible results. Swieqi also failed to manage a place in the top 6 with certain matches left with controversy, especially in the match against Attard. St.Andrews are sitting in the last 4 places, a season with more downs than ups for them. This is a must win match for St. Andrews especially after they managed to get 7 points in their last 4 games under the guidance of their third coach this season Vesko Petrovic.
